The Minute We Love
by Fanofeverything101
Summary: Anne said if Tom wasn't back in 72 hours, she would be coming after him. It was over 72 hours. What Anne didn't expect was for Ben, Matt, and Maggie to overhear and decide to join her to help Tom rescue Hal from Pope. *Another version of Hal's capture and rescue in season 5. Will continue through 5x06, 5x07, and 5x08.*
1. Something To Use Against Us

**Disclaimer** – I own nothing.

 **AN** – I know I already wrote an AU of Hal's kidnapping, but there's such so many ways that could've gone and I really wanted to write another one, so I did. This version is what I think would happen if Anne did decide to go after Tom and Hal after 72 hours, and no Isabella. Note, that the storyline with Marty stays the same though, and this story will be a little more darker and maybe more violent then my other story. Please review and

 **Enjoy!**

 _The minute we love, the world has something to use against us_ – **Marina, _Falling Skies_**

"AHHHH!" Hal screamed as Pope dragged his knife through Hal's arm. Even when Pope stopped and pulled away from him, it still took a few moments before Hal managed to force down any more screams, instead, choosing to breathe deeply so his Dad wouldn't hear.

"STILL NOT TOO LATE FOR ME?" Pope shouted into the walkie talkie. As Hal used his other arm to put pressure on the wound, biting his lip to keep from crying out, he turned his head to look at Pope, wondering what the man was going to do next.

When there was no answer from his Dad, Pope brought the walkie talkie up to his face.

"Tom? Tom?" It was another few seconds before Hal heard his Dad's response.

"I'm gonna kill you." His Dad's voice, while sounded a little choked was cold and resolute. Pope however, didn't even flinch at Tom's declaration.

"Take Arbor Street until you come to the Urgent Care Clinic. Call me then." Pope told the former President. Then he walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him. Hal was left alone with his bleeding arm.

As Hal continued to press down on the cut, which was really awkward because of the way his hands were chained to the old game machine in front of him, he couldn't help but wonder what Pope was doing. He had heard Pope yell to not say Sara's name, which was probably what set the man off, but why did he tell his Dad to go to a care clinic? Even though Hal was blindfolded when Pope brought him into whatever building they were in, he could tell they were not at a clinic. What was the man doing?

Hal's thought was interrupted when Anthony opened the door and came into the room. In his hands was a med kit and an old towel. For a moment, the two just looked at each other, then Anthony came over.

"Move your arm." The former cop ordered with a quiet but still harsh tone as he got down on his knees beside Hal. Without saying a word, Hal slowly moved his now bloodied arm off of the injury while Anthony started going through the med kit.

When Anthony looked up at the injury Pope had inflicted on the young man, he almost gasped in shock. He was there, had watched Pope cut him, but he didn't see how bad it was. Blood was running down Hal's arm in thick streams, some of it starting to pool onto the floor and on Hal's leg. Noticing Hal was watching him, Anthony wrapped the towel that was in his hand around the injury tightly to slow the bleeding, which caused Hal to hiss in pain.

Anthony almost said 'sorry', but stopped himself. After all, what did he have to be sorry for? He wasn't the one who hurt him. That was all Pope, and like Pope said, what they were doing was fair. Deni, Sara, and countless others died because of Tom Mason. It was only fair that he should lose someone too.

Once Anthony had the towel wrapped around the cut, he went through the med kit, grabbing the needle and thread. That injury was definitely going to need some stitches and while the bleeding was bad, it was not enough to be an arterial bleed, which was very lucky considering how deep the cut was. If Pope had actually cut the artery, Hal would probably have bled out by now. When Anthony had the needle threaded, he pulled the towel off and started doing the stitches, using the towel to wipe away the blood as he did so.

Besides a few painful hisses, Hal stayed silent. Since Hal was not someone who usually kept his mouth shut, it unnerved Anthony a little. He looked over and saw Hal clutching the chain link that was used to kept the handcuffs restrained to the machine in both of his hands while his head faced down. Even though Tom's oldest wasn't looking at him anymore, he could still see the black eye and large bruise on Hal's cheek and a pang of guilt shot through him. Pope had only taken Hal two days ago and already he was looking worse for wear.

"It's not because of you." Anthony suddenly found himself saying. Hal slowly looked up at him with a curious yet doubtful expression.

"Too many people died because of your Dad. It's only fair that he loses someone too. It had nothing to do with you." Anthony explained, keeping his eyes on his task. When he made the last stitch, he tied it off and reached for the roll of bandages. It was then that Hal spoke.

"If you think that my Dad is at fault for Deni and Sara's death, and that he deserves to lose someone, you really have lost it." Hal's voice was quiet, but his statement left no room for argument. That didn't mean that Anthony didn't try though.

"He is at fault and he does deserve it." Anthony insisted.

"He deserves it no more than you or Pope did. Both Sara and Deni knew the risks of fighting in this war. They didn't deserve to die, but neither did Lexi, or my Mom. But it was the aliens that killed them, not my Dad. All of this, is for revenge, plain and simple. And here I though that as a police officer, you would know the difference." Hal responded.

Anthony didn't say anything to that. He finished wrapping Hal's injury in an angry silence, and Hal didn't say anything else either. It wasn't until he finished did Anthony decide to say something, but at that moment, the door opened.

"Everything okay in here?" Pope asked as he sauntered into the room.

"Everything's fine." Anthony replied, putting the supplies back into the med kit.

"Good. Anthony, I need you to check the barrier around back. Want to make sure that it's well fortified and guarded." Pope told him.

Anthony looked up at his new leader. Pope had a plastic water bottle in his hand, and a handgun in his belt. When he glanced up at Pope's eyes, he saw a dark yet calculating look that he did not like, and the thought of leaving him alone with Hal did not sit well with him.

But, he knew he didn't really have a choice. So, he closed the med kit, grabbed it, and stood up. As he made his way to the door, he hoped Pope would follow, would accept that he hurt Hal enough today, but the man didn't move.

"Shut the door on your way out." Pope ordered, keeping his eyes on his prisoner. Anthony looked back at Hal and saw that he knew too that whatever Pope was intending to do, it would not end well for him.

Despite knowing that, Anthony forced himself to continue out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

 **FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Tom walked down the street with his gun up, ready to fire. He had been running for a good part of the journey to the next stop Pope had given him, but his legs were ready to collapse under him. He had been running for the majority of the 48 hours since Pope kidnapped his son. Once he saw the building in sight though, Tom pushed himself to run again.

Getting to the clinic, Tom ripped the door opened and rushed inside. He went through every single room, even looked in the closets for any sign of Hal. When he found none, he went out the back, trying to see if there was any place Pope could've left his son, but again, there was nothing.

Slowly, Tom made his way back into the building, his legs shaking. Before he knew it, he collapsed, back against the wall. He was so tired, he had no energy. He hadn't slept, hadn't stopped moving at all over the last two days. Taking his bag off his shoulders, Tom pulled out the bottle of water and took a large gulp, then pulled out a power bar. He needed the energy. He couldn't rest for long, he had to find his son, had to get Hal away from Pope.

The thought of his boy being at the mercy of the psychopath that was Pope filled Tom with a fear that he had felt time and time again. The fear of your child being hurt, being killed, and being unable to do anything about filled Tom with helplessness and pain that would never leave until he got his son back. The sound of Hal's screams echoed in Tom's ears, causing his tears to reappear. He had to save Hal. He couldn't let Pope hurt his son any more than he already had.

Quickly wiping his face, he put the bottle back in his bag and grabbed the walkie talkie to contact Pope again. He could only hope this time Pope would give him the real location.

 **FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

After checking behind the building, Anthony started making his way back to the bowling alley. He hoped that maybe he could check in on Hal, make sure that Pope hadn't hurt him any more than he already had. Before he could open the door to the building though, the sound of gunfire and yelling at the barrier filled the air.

Running over to the barricade, Anthony saw at least 20 skitters charging. He took his gun, which he had slung across his back, off, and started firing at the skitters along with the other members of the group.

Just as the last few remaining skitters were gunned down, he heard a loud screeching noise. Looking up, he saw a gigantic bug flying down towards them.

"HORNET!" Anthony shouted the warning so everyone could hear. All of those with guns raised them and started shooting at the mutated alien, but it wouldn't stop. The hornet didn't even seem to notice the bullets, it had no effect on it.

Suddenly, the hornet flew down at one of the men, Ken, who was standing all alone between the barricade and the bowling alley.

"KEN! LOOK OUT!" Anthony yelled. Ken looked up in time to see it coming towards him, and turned to run away when the hornet grabbed the man's leg.

"AHHHH!" Ken screamed as everyone continued firing at the alien, finally killing it after many headshots.

"What happened?" Anthony turned to see Pope coming out of the bowling alley, gun in hand. He must've been busy doing something if he missed all the action. _Wait,_ Anthony thought, _what was Pope doing?_

"Skitters and a hornet attacked." Anthony explained, pointing at the dead alien, while everyone else either went back to guard the barrier, or to crowd around Ken who was clutching his leg in pain. While he said that though, Anthony looked down at Pope's hands. Bruises were starting to appear across his knuckles on his right hand, and both of his hands had blood on it.

"You guys couldn't kill the hornet before it got into the camp?" Pope asked, completely shocked and almost disappointed. He didn't seem to notice that Anthony was looking him over, instead, focusing on what he all missed.

"It was bigger, and thicker than any other we've fought. It was as though it was on steroids or something." Anthony informed the leader. Pope nodded, then headed over to where Ken was still lying on the ground.

"Can he walk?" Pope questioned the man, Jim, who was trying to get a look at Ken's leg, though it was hard as Ken was still clutching it in his hands.

"I don't know." Jim replied, still trying to pull Ken's leg out of his hands so he could look at it.

"Can he fight or not?" Pope asked, clearly annoyed with the lack of information.

"I don't know yet, I just need to examine him fur-" Jim was cut off by Pope firing his handgun, shooting Ken right in the head. Everyone jumped back at the sound, then stared up at Pope in shock.

"No liabilities." Pope told them, then looked over at two of the new members of his group.

"You two, go out on a patrol will ya? Make sure we don't get anymore surprise attacks." Pope ordered them. After a moment of hesitation, the two men did as they were told, while Pope moved to stand right beside Anthony. Before he could say anything though, they heard Zach's voice calling for Pope.

"Pope, got something for you." Anthony and Pope looked over, and saw the walkie talkie in Zach's hand. They both knew what that meant.

Looking back over at Anthony, Pope said quietly, "I'll go deal with that. You, deal with Ken's body."

Anthony watched Pope walk back into the building before he turned to the other members of the group.

"Bury him out back, and do it quickly. Rest of you, back to guard duty." Anthony told them. Jim, and another member whose name Anthony couldn't remember, picked up Ken's body and started transporting him to the other side of the building as Anthony went over to another member, Nico.

"You take charge for the night. I'm going to get some sleep." Nico nodded, and Anthony went back inside the bowling alley.

He didn't head towards the room that had been set aside for those off shift to sleep in though. Instead, he headed towards the room where Hal was being kept. Luckily, Pope and Zack weren't in the area so he got in undetected, though what he found was not what he expected.

Hal was leaning heavily against the machine. If he could've lied down without his arms being raised uncomfortably in the air because of the handcuffs being chained to the machine, he would've. His head throbbed from the punches Pope had landed on him, and the pain in his arm had flared up again after Pope had dug his fingers into the cut.

"You okay?" Hal looked up to see Anthony making his way over to him with actual concern on his face.

"I'm fine." Hal replied, but put no effort to actually convince the man Hal had previously considered a friend. Anthony knelt down beside him, looking him over.

The black eye that Hal was already sporting was getting worse, as was the one on his cheek bone. There was now blood running down Hal's nose, though it didn't look broken. He got lucky there. And the bandage around Hal's arm that was completely white before, now had a red stain that was growing in size.

"I'll go get the med kit." Anthony stood up and left the room before Hal could respond.

Quickly spying the kit on the table where he had left it earlier, he grabbed it and was about to head back to Hal, when he saw Pope standing behind him, blocking the way to Hal's room.

"What are you doing?" Pope asked.

"I heard a noise in _that_ room," Anthony didn't say Hal's name as no one but him, Pope, Zach, and Nico, knew about Hal's presence and Pope wanted to keep it that way, "and saw that the injury was bleeding again. You told me to keep him from bleeding out." Anthony reminded Pope of his orders from when Pope cut Hal's arm so Tom would hear him scream.

Pope stared at him for a few moments in silence. It was almost as though Pope was wondering if he was lying, but the former criminal nodded, and let him pass so he could get to Hal's room.

The minute he entered, he shut the door. While the new members of the group barely ever came inside, they didn't want to risk them seeing that Pope, the man who said he would have no liabilities, was keeping a man captive. Someone who would normally be considered a liability. Once the door was closed, Anthony knelt down beside Hal.

Anthony quickly unwrapped the bandage and found that some of the stitches seemed to have been ripped or pulled off. The memory of the blood on Pope's hands came back to him as he grabbed the thread and needle from the med kit.

Again, Anthony worked in silence, and again, Hal didn't say anything either. Whether it was because he was angry, or he didn't have anything to say, or because he was just too tired to say anything, Anthony didn't know. Honestly, Hal looked as though he was ready to collapse from exhaustion. He doubted the young man had gotten much sleep at all over the last few days.

When Anthony pulled on the thread to tightened the stitches he was doing, Hal suddenly flinched, but didn't say anything.

"Sorry." Anthony muttered, not wanting to cause Hal anymore pain, especially not after what he had been through today alone. Hal didn't even seem to hear what he had said, he just kept leaning against the old machine that he was chained to.

As he finished, Anthony packed up the med kit, got to his feet, and started walking towards the door. Right before he turned the doorknob, he heard a voice that was so quiet, he almost missed it.

"Thank you." Anthony turned to see Hal looking at him, nothing but sincerity in his eyes.

"Your welcome." Anthony replied, then left the room. Walking down the hall to the 'bedroom', Anthony couldn't help but seriously wonder if all of this was a mistake.

 **FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

It was early in the morning by the time the 2nd Mass got moving again. After being stalled for well over 10 hours due to the man, Marty, shooting at them and taking Weaver hostage. Anne looked over all the members who were walking beside the convoy, and then over to the vehicles.

Marty was currently sitting in the passenger seat of one of the cars. Since those who were walking were all armed, they didn't want to take the chance that Marty might attack one of them and take their weapon. Weaver insisted that the man wouldn't, but they decided to play it safe. Weaver was back in the car he was in before, with Cochise and Matt. Ben and Maggie were at the front of the group, as their spikes would alert everyone if they were about to be attacked by skitters or an Overlord.

Anne stared at the two of them, then back at the car where Matt was. Despite all the tension and fear, the three of them handed themselves rather well through the hostage situation they ended up in. They obeyed orders, didn't get distracted or emotional, or at least, not to an extent that jeopardize the mission. Maybe they could handle it, if she and Weaver told them the truth about Hal and Tom.

It had now been over two days since Tom left, and they had managed to keep it secret from Ben, Matt, and Maggie, though only barely. There had been many times when Ben or Matt had asked about their Dad and brother, and she knew they were watching her closely for any sign of a lie or hidden truth. Anne glanced down at her watch. 7:30 in the morning. 58 and a half hours since Tom went to rescue Hal.

 _Tom, you better be back in the next 13 and a half hours, or I'm coming after you, and if Ben, Matt, or Maggie get any more suspicious, odds are, they'll be coming with me._

 **AN** – And that concludes the first chapter. For those who don't know, Zach and Nico, according to the Falling Skies website I looked at (Falling Skies Wiki), were two members of Pope's Berserkers and left the 2nd Mass with Pope when he was kicked out. They were present in the episode Non-Essential Personal. And Ken was the new recruit who got injured and was killed by Pope in the actual episode. Jim is just the name I gave to one of the new recruits who didn't have a name, so I'm not taking any credit for his character. I will try to update this story once a week.

I hope you all enjoyed. See you soon!


	2. We Have Something To Fight For

**Disclaimer** – Own nothing.

 **AN** – Again Jubs, thank you so much for your review. I hope this story lives up to your expectations.

To all readers, a reminder, this story might get a little dark at some points, warning you now. Please review and

 **Enjoy!**

 _The true soldier fights not because he hates what's in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him_ – **G.K. Chesterton**

Anthony looked around from his position by the wall that they had built around the bowling alley. They had been here for about three days now. Since the skitter and hornet attack last night, everything had been quiet, almost too quiet. He knew it was the calm before the storm, and from the way Pope acted, he knew it too. The criminal was getting antsy, he had so much anger in him and needed to find a way to release it. Anthony hoped the storm of skitters would come soon, otherwise Pope would take his rage out on Hal.

Since yesterday, Pope had not even opened the door to check to see if his prisoner was still there. He always had either Nico, or Zack, or Anthony guarding the room, but they were not to actually go in. Sometime in the middle of the day though, Anthony opened the door just to make sure everything was okay since it was so quiet. Hal was still chained to the old game machine just like before. He looked up to see who had opened the door to his room, exposing the bruises that were now showing. Before Anthony could do anything, Pope came into the area and Anthony shut the door, not wanting to risk getting on Pope's bad side.

Looking back to the area outside the barricade, Anthony raised his gun when he heard something. It sounded as though it wasn't extremely close, yet still loud. With every passing second, the sound grew louder and louder. Before he could say anything to warn anyone, over 30 skitters turned the corner on the street heading straight for them.

"SKITTERS!" Anthony screamed as he started firing at the horde of aliens charging. Everyone grabbed a gun and climbed up the wall so they could start shooting at their attackers.

With every skitter that they shot down however, they were replaced by at least three more. There weren't any hornets, but there were far more skitters. Enough that Anthony knew if there was even only one hornet, they would for sure be overrun.

As the fighters continued firing at the skitters, more and more kept coming. They were already at the bottom of the barrier and were trying to either climb up or push it down. Anthony pointed his gun downward at the skitters right below. It was then that Pope showed up right beside him.

"They're going to destroy the barricade if we don't take them out!" Anthony yelled to Pope.

The minute Pope came to the same realization, he ran back to the paint shop where they kept all the weapons to get the few grenades they had taken when they left the 2nd Mass. While Pope did that, the rest of the soldiers kept shooting and killing the skitters that were still coming.

Pope came back as quickly as he could, and threw the small bombs at the skitters. Luckily, they seemed to take care of the skitters at the end of the line, but the ones still close to the barricade still had o be dealt with since Pope purposely didn't drop any of the grenades on them. If he did, he would destroy the barrier with them, then they really would be overrun.

After the bombs had gone off, killing half of the attacking skitters, the rest were fish in a barrel. Soon, they were all destroyed, or so they thought.

"Need help over here!" Anthony and Pope turned to see more of the aliens on the other side of the barricade, still charging. The two fighters ran over with the rest of the group to help, but before they got there, part of the barrier crumbled on top of the skitters, who ran into the camp.

Everyone continued firing at the aliens, finally finishing them off. When the last skitter fell dead, Anthony looked at the damage. There were two human bodies lying in the rubble along with all the dead skitters, and there was a large opening in the wall.

The barrier was already weak, as they hadn't had much time or stuff to fortify it. And now with a huge hole, it would take them longer to make the barricade stronger, especially if future attacks would be anything like the one they just had.

"So, what should we do? Fix up the barrier again?" Anthony wondered, looking over at the stone-faced leader who was shaking his head.

"No, they all know we're here now. They'll just keep coming and coming. While I love killing skitters, we can't afford to be distracted by them with our _guest_ still with us." Pope added the last part quietly so no one would overhear him. The survivors still around, handed their now empty guns to Jim so he could pull in more bullets, and he handed them replacements just in case of another attack while he filled the guns with more ammo.

"What do you want to do then?" Anthony asked. Pope thought about his options before he responded.

"Let's pack up and get out of here. Find someplace more off the grid, someplace isolated." Anthony nodded, and left to go give the orders to the rest of the fighters. Pope however went over to the only other two members of his group who knew about Hal's presence. They were just coming over from handing Jim their weapons, though they didn't get any in return as they were supposed to be off duty for the next few hours.

"Zack, Nico, why don't you get the young Mason out of the building and into one of the cars you found before anybody notices that he's here." Pope suggested, handing Zach the keys that he kept in his pocket.

"Got it boss." Zack said for the both of them, and they turned to make their way to the room where their prisoner was being kept.

 **FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Hal was surprised when Nico and Zack came into the room. So far, only two people had come in, Pope and Anthony. Besides being the ones who had brought him inside the building and restrained him to the game machine, they had pretty much left him alone. The sight of them made Hal tense. He had no idea why they were here, or what they were going to do and he definitely didn't trust them.

"Don't do anything stupid." Zack warned him, holding up the keys as he came to kneel beside Hal. Nico came up behind Hal and put his hand on Hal's shoulder, as though trying to keep him still.

While they did that, Hal looked them over. He didn't see any guns, which was odd because he heard the massive gunfire just a few minutes ago. And why on earth would they come in the room and release him without any weapons?

It was Zack who made the mistake. He unlocked both of the handcuffs instead of just one, or undoing the chain link first, leaving Hal completely unrestrained since Pope took him, and Hal was not going to let possibly his one chance of escape slip away.

The minute Hal realized that he was no longer tied down, he punched Zack in the face, hard enough for him to fall flat on his back. Before Nico could react, Hal elbowed him right in the knee, then turned to slid his leg against Nico's feet, causing him to trip and fall to the floor.

Hal quickly got to his feet and was about to head for the door when Zack grabbed his ankle, pulling him back. Turning around, Hal swung his leg towards the man, kicking him in the face. Zack instinctively let go off his leg, but before Hal could take another step, Nico literally jumped at him, shoving him to the floor.

Nico was practically on top of him, holding him down by his wrists. Hal tried to move, but Nico was too heavy. So Hal pulled up his leg and kicked his attacker right between his legs. Pope's goon froze in pain, giving Hal time to dig his knee into Nico's stomach before pushing him off.

Again, Hal got up and started for the door, only for Pope to enter the room with a gun in his hand. Anthony came in right behind him. It only took a second for Pope to realize what was going on and to point the weapon directly at Hal's head.

"Not so fast young Mason." Pope said. Hal stayed still, knowing that he wasn't escaping this time. Pope wouldn't hesitate to shoot him and he was too far away to make a grab for his weapon. And he didn't trust Anthony to help him.

"Why on earth did you two come in here unarmed?" Pope asked the two men still on the floor, his voice revealing just how annoyed and angry he was.

"The guns were empty. Besides, what if he managed to take them from us?" Nico explained and defended as they both stood up.

"Well don't just stand there. Tie him up." Pope barked and the two scrambled to do as they were told. Nico pulled Hal's arms behind his back, holding him tight enough to leave bruises. After untangling the handcuffs from the chain, Zack cuffed Hal's wrists together, then grabbed Hal's right arm in both of his hands while Nico kept holding his left arm.

"I give you points from trying. Like I said before, you're a fighter. But you know there's only one way how this ends." Pope said, almost rubbing Hal's failure to escape in his face, but Hal didn't flinch and didn't lower his gaze. Pope started walking over to him and once he was standing in front of him, Hal spat at him, getting him right on his forehead.

The minute he did that, Hal could feel the change in the air. While Pope may have blamed Zack and Nico for his near escape, and not actually be that ticked off at him for trying, Pope was definitely going to make him pay for spitting on him, and everyone in the room knew it. Zack and Nico gripped Hal's arms tighter, and pulled him a little farther away from their leader, as though they thought he would do it again.

Pope wiped his forehead with his sleeve, completely poker-faced. When he looked back at him, Hal gave him a small, satisfied smirk. After all, he had told the man that he would love to spit back in his face. By all means, Pope probably should've seen it coming. If the criminal thought Hal was going to go down that easily, after only one failed escape attempt, the man was sorely mistaken.

Once Pope saw the smirk however, his face turned to one of fury. Without a word or any warning, Pope lifted his fist and slammed it into Hal's face, right in his left eye. Before Hal could recover from the shock and pain of the blow, Pope drove his fist into Hal's stomach.

Hal gasped for breath as Pope's punch forced all air out of his lungs, instinctively bending down as though to protect his torso from any more punches. Pope didn't go for his stomach again though. He did however, send another blow to his face, right into his nose. Again, before Hal could recover, another punch connected to his jaw, then another, and another. Hal wasn't sure how many times Pope punched him before the criminal got him right in his temple, knocking him out completely.

"Pope! POPE!" Anthony called out for the man's attention and finally got it. Pope turned to look at him, showing nothing but fury and a sick sort of satisfaction in his eyes, like he was actually enjoying beating up the innocent man in front of him. When he saw Anthony's slightly horrified expression though, he turned back to his captive that Zack and Nico were still holding up.

The young man was obviously unconscious. Blood covered his lips and chin, running down from his mouth, from the cut on the corner of his lip, and from his nose. A large red turning purple splotch started to appear on his cheek and jaw. There was even a bleeding cut on his eyebrow.

"Get him into the car, out of sight." Pope ordered his two goons who always blindly did what they were told, and this time was no exception. The two of them dragged Hal's unconscious form out of the room.

"Wait." Pope called out. The two men stopped and look back at their leader. Pope bent down and picked up the bag that he had taken off Hal's head a while ago, and threw it to Zack, who caught it in his hand.

"Put that back on him." Pope told them. Zach quickly obeyed and they continued to drag their prisoner away, leaving Pope and Anthony alone.

"What the h*ll was that?" Pope demanded with an angry yet curious look and Anthony knew he had to tread carefully. If he said the wrong thing, he would also be on the receiving end of Pope's wrath.

"You keep saying that you want Hal alive until Tom comes, that you want Hal to die in front of his Dad. You keep this up, you'll beat him to death before that happens." Anthony said in a simple tone, not wanting to antagonize the man.

"Point taken, but, you just remember who's in charge here. This, is all _my_ plan, and I will decide what to do and how to do it. Don't forget that." Pope reminded him in a barely controlled angry tone, getting right up in Anthony's face. Doing his best not to flinch or show how scared he was of the criminal in front of him, Anthony nodded.

Once Pope had his acknowledgement, he too left, probably to go boss someone else around. Anthony looked around the room. It was a mess when they first got there, but it was now worse after the fight Hal had with Nico and Zack. Now, there were blood splatters on the wall due to Pope's punches, not to mention, the small dried pool of the red liquid by the game machine that had come from the cut on Hal's arm. Too much blood. This war, this revenge, Pope's leadership, it was just causing too much blood to be shed.

"What did I get in too?" Anthony muttered to himself. Taking one last look around the room, Anthony walked out to go back to work.

 **FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Ben and Maggie were somewhat exploring the place they were know calling home for the next couple of days, Fayetteville. Their building of operations was an old wine distillery, Ben believed. He couldn't really remember for sure. The moment they arrived, Weaver had asked for them to search for something that could've been causing the interference in the Volm's communication.

"I'm not getting anything." Ben said after walking around the building for two hours.

"Me neither. Maybe it's not in this particular building, but somewhere else around us." Maggie suggested. Ben opened his mouth to reply when he saw Matt making his way over to them.

"Hey Matt. What's up?" Ben asked.

"Hal and Dad went to scout ahead of us. They should've beat us here. Yet they aren't here. Something's wrong." Matt informed his older brother. Ben didn't really know how to respond to that. The same thought had been running through his mind too.

Over the last three days, Ben as well as Matt and Maggie had asked Anne and Weaver about Tom and Hal, and every time they would just say everything's fine even though Ben knew they hadn't received any word from them. His Dad and Hal hadn't even left a trail for them to follow like scouts would normally do so the rest of the group knew which road was clear to take.

"Matt's right. They should've been here by now, and what's even more weird, is that Anne and Weaver don't seem that concerned that they aren't here yet or that we haven't gotten any word from them." Maggie pointed out.

"You think they're hiding something." Ben realized what Maggie was getting at.

"You don't?" Maggie questioned. Ben couldn't disagree with her. Weaver and Anne had been acting odd lately, ever since they left Chinatown. Anne kept checking her watch and Weaver kept looking to see if anyone was following them. And whenever any of them would ask about Tom or Hal, they would say that everything was fine, then find something for them to do. But they always looked worried.

"Let's go ask again then." Ben decided. Matt and Maggie didn't have any objections to that. They were all tired of being lied too.

As they reached the room Anne was going to use, the three of them stopped before they entered when they heard her and Weaver's voice coming from inside.

"So, what's your plan Anne? Just gonna walk right out of here back to Chinatown, and into the direction that Tom headed and just hope that you run into him?" Weaver's voice asked. Maggie, Matt, and Ben pressed their ears against the door so they could hear better.

"I know it's not a great plan, but it's better than doing nothing. I told Tom that if he wasn't back in 72 hours, I was coming after him. It's been 73. We have heard no word, have gotten no sign from them. Someone has to go looking for them." Anne replied, her voice leaving no room for argument. At that, Ben opened the door.

Anne was standing by the bed, her backpack open and filled with clothes. A medical bag sat beside it. Weaver was in the corner of the room. The two adults looked at the three of them, surprise and a little bit of fear in their eyes. But, fear of what?

"What are you guys talking about?" Ben asked.

"Nothing." Anne said quickly, looking almost like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Nothing that concerns any of you anyways." Weaver chimed in.

"You're both lying. What's all this about?" Maggie wondered, her tone making it clear that they weren't going be so easily shoved off with lies and distractions, not this time.

"Does this have to do with Dad and Hal?" Matt asked worriedly. Anne and Weaver looked at each other, as though both trying to figure out how to answer them.

"Okay, no more lies. Tell us the truth right now." Ben demanded. Anne stared at the three of them before looking over Weaver.

"Anne, you can't." The Colonel protested, knowing what the expression on his friend's face meant.

"They deserve to know." Anne insisted.

"Know what?" Ben wondered. Anne looked back over at her stepsons and Maggie, and answered their question.

"Tom and Hal didn't go scouting ahead. Pope kidnapped Hal." Anne revealed.

"What?" Maggie exclaimed. Shock and fear came over her face, as well as Ben's and Matt's.

"And your Dad went to go get him back." Anne finished. For moment, they were too shocked to say anything, but Ben finally asked the question all three of them no doubt wanted the answer to.

"Why didn't you guys tell us?"

"Pope left a message telling Tom to go alone. Tom didn't want to risk what Pope might do if he didn't do what Pope wanted. He knew that if you guys knew the truth, you'd just follow him, and if Pope found out, not only would guys be at risk, but so would Hal." Anne explained. Neither Ben, nor Maggie, nor Matt could disagree to that. It was no secret to anyone how close the Mason family was, or how close Maggie was to Hal, even though they had technically broken up.

"So, you just lied to us and let Tom go alone? Unbelievable. Where are they?" Maggie demanded to know.

"We don't know. I told your Dad that if he wasn't back in 72 hours that I was coming after him." The doctor answered.

"And how long has it been?" Ben asked.

"73. Which is why I'm leaving now." Anne told them, turning back to the bag she had on her bed and zipped it up.

"Give us a minute to grab out stuff." Ben said and was about to turned around head back to the room he and Matt had claimed so he could grab his bag when he heard Weaver's response.

"Excuse me?" Weaver came over from his spot in the corner of the room to stand by Anne.

"We're coming too." Maggie told the doctor.

"No, guys, it's too dangerous." Anne protested.

"No more dangerous for you, or for Dad. You're going to need all the help you can get." Ben replied. Anne and Weaver stared at the three of them. All of their expressions showed Anne that they were not going to be sitting on the sidelines now that they knew the truth. And honestly, having some help getting Hal away from Pope would be a good thing, as long as they didn't do anything stupid.

"Fine, but you guys do what I say." Anne responded. Matt, Ben, and Maggie all nodded in agreement and they started to head for the door.

"Wait." Weaver called out before they managed to leave the room.

"Weaver, this isn't up for debate." Anne told him.

"I know. Just thought you might want these." Weaver said, pulling something out of his pocket and threw them to Anne, who caught it her hand.

"Keys to the truck. Get you guys wherever you need to get faster. And take a gas container with you. Don't know how far you'll have to go." The Colonel said the group.

"Thanks Weaver." Anne responded and they all left the room to pack their stuff and get ready to go after their missing family members.

 **FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Tom ran down the street towards the next location Pope had given him, an old high school. The sun was already setting. Another day gone, another day spent chasing down false leads, another day of not knowing where his son was, or if he was even alive.

As he was about to turn the corner to take a shortcut through an alley, Tom heard something. Sounded like something or somebody hit something metal. Over the last three days, he had not come across a single skitter and knew it wouldn't be long until he would have to deal with one. Guess it was now.

He took off his bag and placed it against the wall of the building, it would be a lot easier to fight a skitter without having the extra weight, and charged into the alley with his gun raised.

There wasn't any skitters in the alley. There were however three people, two men, one probably in his late 60's, early 70's, the other maybe in his 20's. And beside the old man, was a girl, maybe late teens, Tom couldn't tell for sure. What he could tell, was that these three had been through a lot.

"What happened to you guys?" Tom wondered, lowering his gun so he wouldn't scare them. They looked scared enough as it was.

"Got trapped in one of the ghettos. Two cops showed up and rescued us. But then they started picking us off, saying only people who could be useful to him could stay. We didn't make the cut." The 20-year-old man answered.

"Wait, cops?" Tom questioned, wondering if it was even possible that the men he was talking about were Pope and his crew.

"They were in a cop car anyway. Police Bronco." The man replied, and Tom felt his hope start to rise even more.

"What did they look like?" Tom asked.

"Both bald, one white with a tattoo on his neck, the other black with a scar on his face." _Pope and Anthony,_ Tom realized.

"Did they have a prisoner with them. Young guy, in his 20's, black hair?" Tom asked desperately. If they had seen Pope and Anthony, did they see his son? Did they know where Hal was? But the man shook his head.

"Not that we saw, but we never made it into the building." The spokesperson of the small group explained. _They didn't go into the building, Hal could've been in the building,_ Tom thought to himself.

"How many are there?" Tom asked.

"At least 11, maybe 12." The man responded. Tom nodded, then grabbed the bag he had placed behind the building he was hiding behind.

"You're going after that guy?" The young man questioned.

"He's got my son. Where are they?" Tom replied.

 **FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Hal slowly opened his eyes, though it didn't do any good. His one eye was so swollen that he could barely force it to open, and the throbbing got worse when he did. Pope also had put the bag back over his head. He had no idea where he was.

Figuring that attracting attention was a bad idea, Hal didn't struggle. But he did try to find out where he was and what was going on. He felt that his hands were cuffed behind his back, tightly, his legs were bent at the knees, feet pressed against something and he was lying down on his left side. The arm he was lying on, the one Pope had basically cut open, was cold as his weight was probably cutting off his circulation.

Slowly, he moved to rest more onto his stomach, taking some of the weight off his arm. It was then that he suddenly bounced up a little before he hit the ground again, and that was when he realized he wasn't in a building like he had previously thought. He was in a vehicle, and guessing by the small amount of space, he was in the trunk. They were moving to a different place.


	3. We Get Angry

**Disclaimer** – Own nothing.

 **Enjoy!**

By the time Anne, Ben, Matt, and Maggie got back to Chinatown, it was early morning. Since they weren't going as slow as when they left and didn't have a huge convoy to look after, the trip back was much faster. Anne sat behind the wheel, trying to remember which direction Tom said he was going while Ben sat beside her and Matt and Maggie sat in the back. The truck that they had taken was a military one, the back, or box as it was technically called, was covered. There was even a cot in the back for people who were injured or just needed some sleep.

"And you have no idea where they actually are?" Ben questioned. After an hour of leaving Chinatown and going straight down the road his Dad apparently said he was taking, Ben pulled a map out of the glove compartment, trying to find what places were in the area that Pope might be hiding out in.

"No. Not even your Dad knew where Pope went." Anne answered, keeping her eyes open for any sign of Tom or Pope and his group.

"Then how was he going to rescue Hal in the first place?" Maggie asked, her head right by the small window in the back. They had left it open so that Maggie and Matt could hear what was going on.

"Pope didn't just leave a message for your Dad. He left a walkie talkie." Anne revealed.

"To what? Give Dad instructions later on?" Ben wondered, looking over at his stepmom.

"That's my assumption." Anne replied.

"So how are we going to find them?" Matt asked, looking at the adults.

"Honestly, I don't know." Anne revealed. Ben turned his gaze away from Anne and back to the map he was still holding.

"Well, it looks like there's another town up ahead. Maybe we'll find Dad or Pope there." Ben informed them.

"I hope so." Anne muttered, trying to bury feeling of dread and worry that was bottling up inside of her.

 **FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

It only took a half an hour to reach the next town, but they decided to try and head down every street to look for Tom or Hal or Pope. They wanted to make sure that none of them were in the area before they moved on, but for the two hours they had been driving around town, there was no sign of anyone.

Anne was still behind the steering wheel. Ben had offered to drive so Anne could get some sleep, since she had been up all night but she refused. Although he still thought it would be a good idea for her to rest, Ben didn't argue. Instead, he turned back to his map. Maggie and Matt were still in the back, looking outside in case Anne or Ben missed something, but nothing so far.

Ben looked up from his map so he could make sure they were on the right road, and saw a someone out of the corner of his eye. The person had his back to them, but Ben could see the familiar black coat and black hair. Hearing the engine, the person turned, and Ben saw his father's face.

"Anne! Over there!" Ben yelled, pointing to his Dad. Once Anne saw that Ben had spotted her husband, she pulled over to the side of the road and parked the truck.

"Dad!" Matt called out as he jumped out of the car and over to Tom. Ben, Maggie, and Anne all followed.

"What are you all doing here?" Tom asked as Matt threw his arms around his waist in a hug that Tom only half-heartedly returned. He hadn't been sure if Anne would really come after him, and he most definitely didn't think that his other two sons and Maggie would be with her if she did. They shouldn't be here, it was too dangerous.

"I told you if you weren't back in 72 hours, I was coming after you." Anne reminded him, seeing the shocked look on his face. Tom then glanced over at Maggie, Ben, and Matt, silently asking her why they were with her.

"They overheard me and Weaver. There was no talking them out of coming with me." Anne explained when she saw him look at Maggie and his other two sons.

"You all can't be here." Tom replied, not shocking them as much as one would think. They all knew that if Tom wanted them to come along, he would've brought them with him right at the beginning. They knew that he thought it was too dangerous for them, but the four newcomers didn't care.

"We aren't leaving. We want to help find Hal." Matt chimed in.

"If Pope finds out you're here, it'll just make things worse." Tom responded, completely terrified of what Pope's reaction to this would be. If simply saying Sara's name was enough to make Pope hurt his son, what would he do if he found out he wasn't alone, that he had gone against his orders?

"You can't go alone Dad. You're going to need help dealing with Pope." Ben insisted.

Tom looked at the four of them. He knew that he was going to need help, especially with the knowledge that Pope now had more armed men with him thanks to the people he had run into last night. But having his other two sons now put them in more danger. He had no idea what Pope was planning, and Hal's screams were still echoing loudly in his ears. If Pope were to make his son scream in pain again, he didn't think he'd be able to handle it, and didn't know how his other two boys or Maggie would respond either.

"Fine, but no matter what happens, none of you can let Pope know you're with me." Tom relented. As much as he wished his sons, Anne, and Maggie were in the safety of the 2nd Mass, he knew he would need help to save Hal. He also knew that there would be no making them leave either.

"Deal. So, where are we going?" Anne wondered as they all started to head back to the truck.

"I ran into some people said that Pope was at a bowling alley not to far from here. But Pope has a more members in his group now. All armed." Tom informed his family, opening the truck's passenger door.

"Then it's a good thing we're here." Ben replied, getting into the back of the truck with his younger brother and Maggie. Tom didn't say anything to that as he climbed into the passenger seat while Anne got behind the wheel again. He still wasn't sure their presence was a good idea or not. Too late to change any of that now though.

 **FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

It only took another ten minutes before they reached the bowling alley. At first, Tom was trying to figure out a plan in order to get Hal out as safely and as quickly as they could, but when the building came into view, he knew they wouldn't need one.

There was a makeshift wall surrounding the building, but he could see a large opening in it. No guards were there, only the bodies of dead skitters. Anne started driving slowly, just in case there were still people in the bowling alley, but as they drove through the hole in the barricade, there was no one.

"Well, someone was definitely here." Anne said as everyone got out of the truck.

"Must've been some ambush. A really bad one." Maggie stated, seeing three fresh graves in the ground between the bowling alley and the road.

"Well, the cop car is gone. And it looks like there were other vehicles that were here that are also gone." Ben informed the group, looking at the four different sets of tire tracks beside the building. He went over to them, wondering if the tracks could tell them where they were headed, but the tracks ended once they reached the highway.

"You think they just left?" Matt directed the question to his Dad as they walked around the area.

"Like Maggie said, this ambush was bad, bad enough to destroy that barrier. If there were that many skitters and they all knew there were people here, they'd have to." Tom deduced.

"Let's look around, see if we can find any sign that this group was for sure Pope's." Anne suggested, not wanting to just assume that the information Tom had received was accurate. They didn't have time to follow a wild goose chase.

"Well, the man said he didn't see Hal, but they also didn't make it inside the building." Tom informed them.

"Makes sense. Pope wouldn't have kept Hal in a place where any and everyone could see. He needs more fighters, but if they knew he was keeping a hostage, they would be more likely to leave, and probably with any weapons they have. Pope wouldn't let that happen." Maggie told them, and started heading towards the door of the bowling alley. When she didn't hear anything behind her, she turned around, seeing confused expressions on their faces.

"I've been with Pope a lot longer than you all have." Maggie said. Tom and Anne nodded, only now recalling how Maggie was originally with Pope and was a part of his gang before she joined the 2nd Mass. Ben and Matt stared at her though with shock and confusion. Nobody had really thought to inform Ben of that once he was rescued from the skitters, and Matt, since he was so young at the time and wasn't allowed to fight, wasn't told either.

Maggie however, ignored their looks and continued inside the building with the Mason family following close behind her. Once they got inside, they saw a couch and a few chairs in a circle on the bowling aisles with a small table in the center.

"Okay then, where would Pope have kept Hal?" Tom asked Maggie, as she would probably have the best idea of what Pope would do given their history. When the woman didn't answer, Tom gestured to everyone to look around. Maggie on the other hand, went over to the couch and chairs.

 _Pope was keeping Hal's presence a secret, he would need him in a place where no one would think to look, but would still be in his sight, or sight of the guards without anyone realizing it,_ Maggie thought to yourself. _If he was sitting over here, and had those who were guarding Hal here, then the room where he would've kept Hal would have to be in sight from here. Visible, but not noticeable. And there could only be one way out._

Maggie looked over to the far end, seeing a men and women's washroom doors, a door that said closet on it, and what looked to be a small hallway at the end. Pope wouldn't have had Hal in the washrooms, people would probably be using it. Closet would be too small, and there was probably a back exist in the hallway. As she moved more to the left, she saw another small hallway leading straight down from her spot, with only one door at the end. That was it. Without a word to anyone else, who were all still looking for a sign that this group was indeed Pope's, she went over to the door and went inside.

Ben had gone into the bathrooms to check, but found no sign whatsoever of who was actually here, though he could tell someone definitely was. He saw his Dad and Anne still looking around the main room and was about to join them when he felt a surge of rage and fear course through his body. They were not his emotions. Ben slowly lifted his hand to the back of his neck, touching his spikes. The anger and fear was coming from them, but why?

"Ben, what is it?" Tom asked, seeing his son's hand going to his neck. The blonde ignored his Dad, and looked around.

"Maggie?" Ben called, wondering where she was. If they weren't his emotions, then odds were, they were hers.

"Over here." Tom, Ben, and Anne all heard the woman's voice coming from the other end of the room, but they didn't see her. Tom was about to ask her where exactly she was when he saw a door partly opened right where her voice came from. The door was down a small hallway and almost invisible unless you were looking for it. The three went over and opened the door.

Maggie was inside, crouching down beside what looked to be an old game machine, rubbing her fingers together. Tom could just barely see that her fingertips were red. Slowly, Maggie looked over at the two adults and Ben, anger evident in her eyes.

"It's blood." Maggie told them. The three of them entered the room, Tom going over to the woman, and saw the large copper red stain on the floor. He knew what it was, blood that had dried.

"Hal's?" Ben questioned, coming up behind his father and seeing the same thing his Dad did.

"Most likely. This is a spot where Pope would've kept him, out of sight yet still able to be guarded without anyone realizing it. No other exit." Maggie explained, staring up at the teenager.

"There's some more blood over here too." Anne said. Maggie, Ben, and Tom turned their heads to see Anne staring at the wall. When they looked to see what the doctor was looking at, they saw the same colored stains on the wall, though a lot smaller.

"We don't know for sure that this group was Pope's though. For all we know, this was a completely different group and somebody was injured, which is why they were bleeding." Ben said.

He knew that the odds were against him, that this group was indeed Pope and his gang, and that this was Hal's blood that he was looking at, but he didn't want to believe it. The thought of his brother being tortured and bleeding scared him and filled Ben with a feeling of helplessness that he hadn't felt since the invasion first started, before he had his spikes and learned how to fight.

"Dad?" Everyone turned to look at the door when they heard Matt's voice. They hadn't even noticed he wasn't in the room with them.

"I found this in the back room." Matt told his father, holding up a faded camo jacket in his hand. Hal's jacket. They were here.

"We must've just missed them. Maybe by a few hours." Anne stated, turning back to look at Tom.

"So, what do we do?" Ben asked, also turning to face his father. Tom continued staring at Hal's jacket. His son was here, and he was too late to save him, this time.

"We do what Pope says. Until we can figure where they are, or if Pope does something different, the best thing to do is just play along." Tom replied. Without another word, Tom left the room, walked out of the building towards the truck. After a minute, the rest followed, Matt still holding his oldest brother's jacket. Hal would want it when they got him back.

 **FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

To say Hal was bored, would be a major understatement. Ever since he woke up to find himself in the trunk of a car, he discovered there was nothing to he could do. He tried to move, to find out if there was anything around him that he could use to escape, or at least, get the handcuffs off, but he found nothing, which wasn't surprising due to the bag on his head and his hands being cuffed behind his back.

After he failed at finding anything that could help him, Hal tried to fall asleep. He was so tired, he barely had gotten any rest since Pope had kidnapped him. However, the burning strain in his shoulders, the throbbing in his arm and head refused to let up, keeping him wide awake. Hal moved to lie more onto his stomach in an effort to get more comfortable, but the throbbing continued.

He had no idea how long they had been driving, especially since he didn't know how long he had been unconscious. After about three hours, he guessed that was as much time had passed since he woke up, he felt the car jerk to a stop. The sound of car doors slamming shut quickly followed. It was another few minutes before he heard footsteps and voices.

"Get him out now, before the rest of them show up." Hal heard Pope's voice order someone. Two pairs of footsteps came towards him, and the trunk door opened, cool, fresh air quickly filling Hal's lungs. Before he could react, two pairs of hands grabbed his arms and pulled him out of the trunk.

Hal felt a gravel road under his feet as he tried to stand up straight, but he didn't get the chance. The two people who were holding him started to drag him forward. He tried to walk himself, but the people were moving too fast. They didn't drag him for very long, only a minute or two, so they didn't go very far before they stopped. Then he heard a loud creaking noise, like a door with a rusty hinge was being opened.

Suddenly, they were pulling him forward again, but he felt something wooden against his foot and stopped again.

"Pick up your foot and step down." Nico's gruff voice told him. _Down? Where were they?_ Hal wondered, but did as he was told. Once he did that, he realized that he was standing on a wooden plank.

"Keep walking down." Zack's voice came from in front of him. Slowly, Hal lowered his foot, finding another step below. They were walking down some stairs. Zack must've been getting annoyed with how slow he was going because he pulled him forward, causing him to almost slip and fall, but Nico who was behind him, pulled him back.

Their courtesy of keeping him from tripping didn't last very long. After they went down at least ten steps, Zack yanked him harder and Hal fell forward, tripping over the remaining steps before falling to the cement floor, rolling onto his side. Despite the sudden added pain, Hal didn't make a sound, especially when he heard the two men chuckling. He wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of hearing him in pain.

Before he could move, they came over and pulled him up again, but didn't make him stand up. They dragged him further into, what Hal assumed to be a cellar or basement of some kind, on his knees. Again, they didn't drag him very far before they shoved his back against a post, probably a wooden beam.

Something metal and cold enough he could feel it through the cloth bag, was suddenly pushed against Hal's forehead and the sound of a loud click echoed through the room. Either Nico or Zack was holding a gun to his head, and had cocked it. The statement was obvious, 'don't move'. So, Hal stayed still as he felt someone undo the handcuffs only to restrain his wrists again, this time, behind the beam he was sitting against.

Once they had made sure he wasn't going anywhere, the person who tied him up, stood up and walked away, and the gun was taken away from its place against his head. Hal was about to say something, when he heard another set of footsteps coming down the stairs towards him. The footsteps continued until they reached Hal and the bag was pulled off his head. Hal looked up to see that it was Pope who had joined them.

"Did you enjoy the drive Mason?" Pope asked with smile. Hal was a little disturbed by how much Pope seemed to be enjoying this. He always knew the man was crazy, but he had clearly made the switch from crazy to psychopath.

"Would've been better if some music had been playing, but, what can you do?" Hal replied sarcastically, shrugging his shoulders. Still smiling, Pope bent down and punched him in face. Hard enough that it hurt, but not as hard as when Hal had spat on him.

"You know Pope, if you don't want the person you're talking to, to answer, you really shouldn't ask them questions." Hal responded. Again, Pope moved to punch him, but Hal bent down as far as he could and almost laughed when Pope missed his face and hit the post instead.

"You know, I think you have a little too much room to move." Pope thought aloud. He turned to Zack and Nico, who were standing a little ways in front of Hal's feet and jerked his head towards the staircase. Zack apparently understood what Pope wanted and started climbing the stairs to leave the cellar. Pope then went over Nico and whispered something quietly in the man's ear. Nico then started looking around the room while Pope turned his attention back on Hal.

After a minute, Nico came back with a long piece of rope coiled up in his hands. Kneeling down by his legs, the former Berserker started wrapping it around Hal's ankles. He tried to pull his legs away, but Pope then pulled his handgun out of his belt and pointed it at him. Once he did that, Hal stayed still and let Nico tie up his legs. When the man was done, he stood up and back away.

Zack then appeared, coming down the stairs with the chain link that they had used to keep him restrained to the game machine in his hands. Hal tensed up, wondering what exactly the man was planning on doing with it, when Zack came over to him, and started wrapping it around Hal's shoulders, pulling him against the beam tighter so he was sitting up straight.

"If I didn't know any better, I would say you're getting a little paranoid Pope." Hal said as Zack finished, using a lock to keep the chains in place. Pope waited until Zack had backed away a little before he again swung his fist into Hal face, this time, cutting Hal's cheek.

"That really the best you got?" Hal wondered, looking up at his captor with a smile. Pope shook his head.

"You just don't know when to shut up, do you?" Pope asked, clearly exasperated. Hal's only response was a smirk and shrug of his shoulders.

"Well alright then. Zack, hold his head still." Pope ordered the large man standing by his right. Zack came over to Hal yet again and crouched down beside him, grabbing his hair and pulling his head against the wooden post behind him.

Hal tried to see what Pope was doing. The criminal had walked away, going over to a table that looked as though it had been used for some sort of construction work or something. When Pope turned around, Hal saw a roll of duct tape in the man's hand. He started struggling against Zack's hold, but as Pope knelt down, Zack moved his other hand to grip his jaw tightly, keeping him in place. Pope ripped off a piece of the tape and stuck it across Hal's mouth, gagging him.

Just as the leader did that, the sound of car engines could be heard from outside. Pope turned his attention away from Hal to his two minions.

"The rest of them are here. Go help them out." Pope ordered. Nico made his way out of the cellar and Zack started to get up to follow, but stopped.

"Oh, and by the way," Zack started, turning around so fast that Hal didn't see the man's leg coming at him until it landed into his ribs, "payback's a b***h, isn't it?"

Hal grunted in pain, and laughing, Zack stood up and left him alone with Pope. After catching his breath, as the kick to his ribs left him breathless, Hal turned to look at Pope, who was still kneeling beside him.

The minute Pope heard the door to the cellar close, he turned back to Hal, suddenly pressing his knife up against his neck. It happened so fast that Hal didn't even see Pope take the knife out. He immediately moved his head away as far as he could, but Pope grabbed his jaw just like Zack had done only minutes before.

"You need to remember young Mason, your Daddy might have a good track record of keeping those he cares about alive and safe, but right now, I'm the one who decides if you live or die. I can easily kill you right now, just have to push a little harder." Pope proved his point by digging the knife deeper. Hal let out a muffled gasp as he felt the sharp edge cut into his skin, blood starting to run down his neck.

"Pope?" Hal had never been more grateful to hear Anthony's voice in his entire life. Pope pulled the knife away from his neck only a little, but enough that it didn't hurt as much. He couldn't move his head due to Pope still holding his jaw tightly, but did manage to see Anthony, standing in front of him. He hadn't even heard the man come into the cellar, and judging from the look on Pope's face, he didn't either.

"What?" Pope all but growled at Anthony.

"All the vehicles are here. How do you want us to set it up?" Anthony asked, his voice steady, but Hal had been with Anthony long enough to see that the former cop was very uncomfortable with this for whatever reason. He joined Pope, he knew exactly what the criminal was planning, he should've expected this. Was he suddenly growing a conscience or something?

"I'll be right there." Pope replied, the anger replaced with frustration. Reluctantly, Anthony walked back to the stairs, and climbed out of the room. Pope then turned back to Hal, pressing the knife against his neck harder again.

"I can kill you so easily. Don't you forget that." Pope told him, then pulled his switchblade away, closing it and putting it back in his back pants pocket. Then he grabbed the bag he had left beside him, and put it back over Hal's head. Without another word, his tormentor stood up and left the cellar.


	4. We Get Desperate

**Disclaimer** – Own nothing.

 **AN** – So this is the chapter where it goes a bit dark. Nothing inappropriate, at least, not that I think. But read with care, just to be on the safe side. Please review and

 **Enjoy!**

Anthony watched as the new members of the group finished unpacking the weapons, ammo, and food they had brought with them to the farmhouse Pope had chosen to use for their new shelter. They had gotten here in the afternoon and had spent the rest of the day setting everything up.

Even though he kept busy helping them out, the image of Pope holding a knife to Hal's neck stayed stuck in his mind. The look of enjoyment and anger on Pope's face while Hal was forced to take it. It had only been four days and Pope was getting worse. Anthony was beginning to wonder the criminal was ever going to actual follow through on his plan, he seemed to be having fun torturing Hal and Tom in this way. The thought of that made Anthony sick to stomach.

When Nico finally relieved Anthony of guarding their new shelter, Anthony went inside to grab a drink of water. He grabbed the bottle off the table and took a few gulps before stopping. When was the last time Hal had anything to drink? Did Pope ever give him any water? The average person can only go a few days without water before they die of dehydration.

Anthony looked around, wondering if maybe he should check with Pope about giving Hal some water. Pope made himself clear that no one was to do anything about Hal unless he told them too, and the anger in Pope's eyes promised what could happen if he went against him.

Then again, Pope did make he clear he wanted to keep Hal alive, and you need water to live. If Pope caught him giving Hal water, he could just always remind him of that. Giving the room another glance and seeing only two others, both heading to bed as it was almost midnight now, Anthony slowly went out the back door and made his way to the cellar.

Anthony shivered as he climbed down the last step. It was getting colder outside and with the chilled wind blowing inside through the cracks in the cellar door and the cement floor, the room was cold. He looked over to see Hal still sitting against the wooden beam Pope had chained him too, bag back on his head, and shivering slightly too. He didn't even have his jacket on, Pope had taken it off for some reason.

Even though the black bag seemed to swallow Hal's head, Anthony could still see him turn as if to look at who had come in, though he couldn't actually see. As he reached Hal's side, he pulled the bag off so Hal knew that it was him and not Pope. Once Hal saw that it was him, he visibly relaxed. Anthony could almost hear a sigh though the duct tape Pope had used to gag him, as he knelt beside him.

"Hey. Here, let me get that off." Anthony said, reaching up to Hal's face. Slowly, so it wouldn't hurt as much, Anthony pulled the duct tape off of Hal's mouth, some of the dried blood on his face coming off with it.

"Thirsty?" Anthony asked, holding up the water bottle. Hal looked up at him and over at the water, then nodded. He quickly took off the cap, and put the bottle against Hal's lips, tipping it slowly so Hal wouldn't choke.

Hal drank the water greedily. It was the first time he had anything to drink in the last four days and he was so thirsty. The hunger pains he had been feeling was finally disappearing. Before he knew it, the bottle was empty.

"Thanks." Hal said as Anthony pulled the water bottle away from him. Anthony nodded, then looked over the young man.

"You alright?" Anthony asked, though he knew it was a stupid question. Of course his friend wasn't okay. He had been kidnapped by a psychopath and was being beaten constantly, not to mention starved.

"I'm fine." Hal replied, his tone a little harsh, not that Anthony blamed him. If Hal had joined up with a man who had taken him hostage and was treating him the way Pope was treating Hal while he did nothing about it, Anthony would be angry too.

"Hal, I," Anthony started, only to stop when he couldn't figure out what to say. What was there to say? Sorry for turning against you and your family and helping a crazy man kidnap and beat the crap out of you? The only excuse he really had was his anger, which wasn't a good argument, and they both knew that.

He had been friends with Hal since him and his father and little brother first joined the 2nd Mass. He had been with him when they first met Pope, when the man had kidnapped them. He knew from the beginning what kind of man Pope was, yet here was, only a few years later, taking the vengeful, crazy, man's side over his friend's.

Anthony looked Hal over. The young man looked terrible. Bruises covered the entire left side of his face, some were so bad that they were visibly swelling. The bruises however, were not the only thing that made him cringe. The blood that had run down his face from the cut on his eyebrow, cheek, and lip had long since dried but was still there. Underneath all the blood and bruises, Hal's skin was pale. Anthony hated it, hated what had been done to him.

The former police officer again tried to say something, but the sound of voices above them growing louder caused him to stop and look over at the door. Soon, the people passed by, but Anthony knew it was time to leave. With only 9 people in their group, it wouldn't take long for them to realize he wasn't there, and if Pope learned he was down here, helping Hal without permission, well, he didn't want to think what would happen.

"I have to get back out there." Anthony told Hal, looking back at him. Hal nodded, seeming to understand the position he was in. Once he stood up, Anthony walked over to the table and grabbed the roll of duct tape. When he turned around, Hal looked confused and wary once he saw what Anthony was holding.

"Sorry, but Pope can't know I was down here." Anthony explained, coming back to crouch down beside the young man. Hal lowered his head, but didn't pull away or try to fight him as he placed another strip of tape across his mouth.

"Sorry." Anthony apologized again, trying to meet Hal's eyes. Hal didn't look up or react at all, so Anthony just grabbed the bag Pope had been using to blindfold him and put it back over Hal's head before he headed back upstairs.

 **FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Hal wished he could sleep, he was so tired. Even when he had passed out from hunger only a few weeks ago, he was sure he hadn't been this exhausted. Not being able to sleep shouldn't have surprised him. If he couldn't fall asleep in the trunk lying down, which was the most comfortable he had been ever since Pope had taken him, he doubted he'd be able to sleep sitting up against a post.

What made it worse was his thirst. Though the water Anthony had given him only hours ago helped, it also reminded his stomach of how empty it was. Then there was the cold.

Ever since he had been dragged into the cellar by Zack and Nico, he hadn't been able to fully stop shivering. The freezing cement floor and cold breeze that came in through the cracks in the wall had him wishing for the suffocating heat of the car trunk. Either way, both would've kept him up though. Hal wondered how long it would be before he would pass out from plain exhaustion. He didn't sleep at all throughout the night.

A creaking noise alerted Hal that someone had opened the door and was coming inside. Stomping feet came closer to where he sat. A hand pulled the bag off his head roughly, pulling his hair a little during the process. Hal looked up to see Pope standing over him, a sadistic grin on his face and the sun shining through the cracks in the roof. It was morning now.

"Did you have a good night?" Pope wondered with a smug smile. Hal didn't answer, not that he could if he wanted too, not with the duct tape still on his mouth. Instead, he lowered his head so he didn't have to see Pope's face.

"I mean, I know I did. Bed with clean sheets, soft pillow, mattress that your body literally just sinks into, you know?" Pope taunted as he started pacing in front of Hal. When he still didn't respond at all, Pope stopped and looked down at him.

"Well, I guess the conversation is going to be one sided. You don't mind, do you?" Pope asked sarcastically. Hal raised his head only so he could glare at his captor. Pope however, ignored it and just kept talking.

"You know Hal, you've been here with me for what, little over four days now, and I still haven't figured out exactly how I'm going to kill you. I was thinking of just leaving you tied up in a place where I know skitters would find you and let your Dad come across your body, but then I wouldn't be able to see your Dad's face when he saw you dead, which would kind of defeat the purpose of this whole thing." Pope told him, starting to circle Hal. It unnerved him, it reminded him of a bird circling his prey.

"That was when I decided that I'll tell your Dad where we are and kill you when he gets here. But I still can't figure out how to end your life. Maybe I should slice your neck open and make your Dad watch. Or, I could simply shoot you." Pope suddenly stopped at Hal's right, and he felt the end of a gun being pressed against his temple.

Hal took a deep breath and kept his head still. If this was how Pope was going to kill him, he wasn't going to let the man see his fear. Pope though, dragged the gun across his head as he moved to stand in front of him, one leg on either side of Hal's bound ones.

Pope pressed the gun hard against Hal's forehead once he stopped moving. Hal looked at the criminal right in the eyes, who also stared back. For a moment, that was it. Just the two of them staring at each other, neither of them blinking or looking away. Then, Pope pulled the trigger.

 _Click._

Hal blinked. There was no bang, no bullet, no pain. There wasn't even a flash. Pope smiled, and pulled the gun away before crouching down low enough that he was practically sitting on Hal's legs.

"But that would be too easy, now wouldn't it? Don't worry young Mason, your time will come soon." Pope laughed as he stood back up, and walked away. His footsteps on the wooden stairs echoed loudly through Hal's ears as he continued staring straight ahead, completely frozen as he finally realized that the gun must've been empty.

It was also at that moment that Hal finally accepted that Pope was going to kill him. There wasn't any way that he could think of escaping that. Even if his Dad did find him, the odds of them getting out alive was almost at zero. Pope was going to kill him, and there wasn't anything Hal or his Dad could do about it.

 **FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

As far as Anthony was aware of, Pope was still leading Tom on a scavenger hunt for his son. Ever since the day Pope had Anthony stitch up Hal's injury, Pope kept his plan, whatever it was, to himself. He was proven right when he heard Tom's voice coming from the walkie talkie that Pope had left on the table.

"Pope? Pope?" Anthony quickly grabbed the walkie talkie off the table and answered before Tom could say anything else.

"Pope's not here at the moment." Anthony told Tom, moving out of the house through the back door so no one would hear. Pope had left an hour ago with Zack and Jim to hunt for food.

"Anthony? Anthony, please, just tell me, is Hal still alive?" Tom's voice begged. Anthony felt the guilt of his part in the man's pain curl up inside him.

"Yes, he's still alive." Anthony revealed. The father deserved to know that much.

"He's there with you? Where are you? Where is he?" When Tom asked those questions, Anthony kept his mouth shut. No, he couldn't tell Tom, couldn't help him. If he did and Pope found out about it, he would probably die along with them.

"Please Anthony, let me talk to him." Tom changed his request. He must've come to the conclusion that Anthony wasn't going to tell him where they were.

"He won't be able to help you. He doesn't know where he is." Anthony told him.

"Just let me talk to him. Please?" Tom begged again. Anthony could hear the desperation so clearly and the guilt in his stomach grew. Before he had a chance to change his mind, Anthony started making his way to the right side of the house where the door to the cellar was.

He looked around, making sure no one was in sight. The last thing they needed was one of the new recruits finding out that there was a hostage among them. They were uneasy with Pope's leadership enough as it was. Once Anthony saw there was no one in eyesight, he opened the door and started heading down the stairs, closing the door behind him.

As he made his way over to Hal, he noticed a few differences from when he was down there late last night. The bag was off of his head and he was a lot paler than he was before, though the duct tape was still across Hal's mouth. The dried blood on his face was starting to crack and fall off.

Hal turned his head to look at him the minute he heard the door open. Anthony could see the relieved look in his eyes when he saw that it was him. There was no doubt about it, Pope had been down here.

Silently, Anthony moved to kneel down beside Hal, and slowly peeled off the duct tape. Hal watched and stared in confusion as Anthony held up the walkie talkie.

"It's your Dad." Anthony explained, holding the device up to Hal's face. For a moment, Hal looked at the device and then back at Anthony in almost a confused daze which made Anthony start to worry. Hal really did not look so good. Before he could say or do anything though, Hal moved his head so he could talk into the walkie talkie.

"Dad?" Hal said. His voice was a little weak, and he sounded exhausted. Anthony wondered if he had gotten any sleep last night. Most likely not if the dark circles under his eyes were anything to go by.

"Hal? Hal, are you okay?" Tom's panicked voice replied back.

"I'm fine. But Dad, I need you to do something for me." Hal told him, ignoring the confused look that Anthony was giving him. What could Hal possibly be asking of his Dad right now?

"What?" Tom wondered.

"I need you to turn around and go back to the 2nd Mass." Anthony's head shot up when he heard what Hal requested of his father. He never expected Hal to say anything like that.

"What? No, I'm not leaving you." Tom's shock was clear in his tone as he refused to do what his son asked, just as Hal and Anthony both knew it would be.

"Dad, you have to. The 2nd Mass needs you." Hal explained.

"Weaver and Anne can take care of 2nd Mass, alright? The 2nd Mass will be just fine without me. And I will find you and get you out of there." Tom replied.

"Dad, if you come, Pope's just going to kill both of us. Ben and Matt still need you. It's okay Dad. It's okay." Hal tried to convince him. Anthony felt his heart break at the look of pain on Hal's face.

"I'm not letting you die Hal." Tom insisted.

"I can't let you risk your own life Dad. It's okay. Just, just tell Ben, Matt, Maggie, and Anne that I love them, okay?" Hal answered.

"Hal, don't you dare give in to this. I am going to find you, and you will be alive to tell them yourself." Hal closed his eyes and turned his head away from the walkie talkie. Anthony knew that it meant that Hal was done talking, that he had nothing left to say.

"Hal?" Tom called for his son when Hal didn't respond. Anthony pulled the device away from Hal's face and took his finger off the PTT button so what ever they said, Tom wouldn't hear.

"Is that all you want to say?" Anthony wondered. Hal nodded and though he kept his head, Anthony could swear he saw a tear rolling down the young man's cheek. He put the walkie talkie down and was about to go for the duct tape so Pope wouldn't know that he was down here when he heard the engine of a car approach the house. Pope was back.

"Pope's coming." Anthony quickly told Tom as he stood up.

Anthony quickly made his way up the stairs, out of the cellar and into the house through the back. He got inside just before Pope and Zach came in. When the former criminal looked at him, Anthony held up the walkie talkie in his hand, silently letting him know that Tom had made contact. Pope threw his jacket on the couch went to grab the device from Anthony's hand.

"Hello Mason." Pope greeted.

"Pope, how long are you going to keep doing this? It's been four days." Tom replied with frustration and anger.

"I'm well aware of how long it's been." Pope told him.

"Pope please, just tell me where my son is." Tom begged again, as he did every time he had spoken to the man who had his son.

"Oh, don't worry Mason. You and your son will be reunited soon. Get to main street and head down to 6th Avenue until you come to the hotel. Call me then." Pope gave him the new place where they all knew Hal would not be, though they knew Tom didn't have a choice in going to check. Not if he wanted to find his son.

"Pope, how long are you going to make Tom do this?" Anthony asked, truly curious as to what the leader of their group was planning to do. Pope put the walkie talkie down on the small table in front of the couch and turned to him.

"As long as I want." Pope said simply.

"Pope, you can't keep doing this." Anthony protested. For a moment, Pope just stared at him, then turned to only other person in the room.

"Zack, why don't you go help Nico do a quick patrol, make sure no skitters followed us." Pope ordered the other man in the room. Once he was gone, Pope started walking towards Anthony.

"And why the h*ll can't I?" Pope questioned.

"Because the way you are treating Hal, beating him, starving him, he's not going to last much longer." Anthony informed him, trying to be practical so that Pope wouldn't see that he was longer very willing to help him hurt his friend, or at least, former friend. That bridge he probably burned the minute he sided against the Masons.

"Then keep him alive until I decide to tell Tom where we are and he gets here." Pope ordered, not really caring of what condition his prisoner was in as long as he was alive.

"I don't like the idea of keeping someone alive only to kill them." Anthony confessed, lowering his head so he wouldn't see the anger he knew would now be in Pope's eyes. If he did, he'd back down immediately and he couldn't do that anymore.

"Excuse me?" Pope asked with shock and disbelief.

"You are pretty much torturing Hal, and I think the only reason you keep giving Tom wrong places and directions is because you like Tom not knowing what's happening to him, and you like using Hal as your personal punching bag." Anthony revealed, still keeping his head down though he risked a quick glance to try and determine how Pope was going to react.

"Oh really? And since when you decide to get all righteous? I thought you agreed that this was fair, that Tom needs to pay for all the people he's gotten killed." Pope replied, keeping whatever emotion he was feeling at bay for the moment.

"You forget I was once a cop. And I'm not saying Tom doesn't deserve this, but Deni, Sara, they weren't tortured. Their deaths, just as many other deaths, they were quick." Pope reacted less than a second after Anthony finished his sentence. He pushed Anthony back against the wall, putting his arm against his neck.

"Sara's death wasn't quick! It wasn't painless! She was eaten alive by bugs! I told you that this all was _my_ plan, _mine_! So you keep your mouth shut. I don't care what you think. And if you have a problem it, then you are, quite frankly, a liability. I have no use for liabilities. You got it?" Pope all but yelled at him, spit hitting Anthony right in the face. Slowly, he nodded, not even trying to hide the sudden fear the he felt.

"Good. Now get back to work." Pope told him with a smile and released him from his hold. He went to the door and walked outside without another word. Anthony watched, bringing his hand up to his neck, trying to rub the soreness away.

Anthony couldn't keep doing this. With every minute, his guilt kept growing. Guilt for letting this happen, guilt for letting a crazy man do this to someone he considered a friend. It wasn't fair, it wasn't right. It was torture and revenge, nothing more. He couldn't let this keep going.

 **FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Everyone was silent in the truck. After Pope had given them the new place to go, Anne started driving in that direction. She kept shooting glances at Tom through the corner of her eye, but he didn't notice. When she looked at Ben, Matt, and Maggie through the rear-view, she saw the scared and worried looks on their faces and knew that she was wearing the same expression.

Just an hour ago, they heard Hal's voice. They were relieved to hear for themselves that Hal was alive. But then they heard what he had to say. They heard him ask his Dad, to leave him behind, to let Pope kill him so that they, as well as the 2nd Mass have Tom. So that Tom could finish the war, so Anne could have her husband, and Ben and Matt could have their father.

Hal was selfless by nature. Anne could scarcely recall Hal doing anything for himself. His number one priority was taking care of and protecting the people he cared about. Him trying to convince his Dad to forget him and take care of their family and the 2nd Mass wasn't out of nature for him, but he had to know that Tom would refuse, and the fact that Hal still tried to tell his Dad to leave him told them all one thing. Hal was not expecting to survive this, and that scared them more than anything. He didn't even have the hope that there was a possibility he could survive.

"Tom?" Tom looked over at Anne once he heard the voice over the walkie talkie, wanting to make sure that he heard right. When she saw her confused and stunned expression, he knew she heard the same thing he did. Anthony's voice, asking for him.

"Anthony?" Tom replied, holding the device up to his face. While he did that, Anne pulled over to the side of the road and stopped the truck, causing Matt, Maggie and Ben to open the back window so they could listen in.

"Don't go to the hotel. You need to get back to the highway, and continue going west. After about 15 miles, you'll come to a 4 way stop sign. Turn right and continue down that road for another 8 miles. You'll see a pond on the left side of the road. Turn left for 12 miles until you come to a two way stop and turn right again. Keep going until you see a large red barn in the trees with a two story farmhouse beside it. That's where we are." Anthony revealed.

"Hal's still with you? He's still alive?" Tom questioned once Anthony's news sunk in.

"Yes, to both." Anthony answered. Everyone in the truck sighed in relief. Hal was still alive and Anthony just told them where to find him. But why would Anthony tell them where they were?

"Why are you helping me?" Tom asked.

"Because I was wrong. I was so wrong. I was so angry that all I could think about was making someone pay, but neither you or Hal deserve any of this." Anthony replied, regret plain as day in his voice.

"Why should I trust you?" Tom wondered, looking at the occupants of the truck, seeing the same question on their faces.

"I know that you have every reason to doubt me. I don't blame you for that, but you know, that this is the best chance you have to save Hal. I can't help him on my own, and I have no clue when Pope is actually going to end this, but Hal's not going to be able to last much longer." Anthony told him. Tom heart clenched painfully at Anthony's last sentence.

"I'll be there as soon as I can." Tom responded.

"Tom, are you alone?" Anthony suddenly asked. Tom shot his head up and looked over at the people who had joined him only this morning.

"Do you really think I'd risk what Pope would do to Hal if I went against what he told me to do?" Tom tried to keep from answering. If he lied and Anthony was only saying this to help Pope lure him into a trap, they might realize it and Hal would be on the receiving end of Pope's anger once again.

"If it's just you and me, this is going to be hard. And Hal is really going to need to be checked out by Anne." Anthony said, as though knowing that Tom was trying to deflect the question. Tom saw everyone's face pale when Anthony told them that Hal would be needing Anne. He knew when he heard Hal's scream that he was going to need to be checked out by the doctor, but he hadn't told his other sons, or Anne, or Maggie about it.

"I'll see you soon. You better not be playing me." Tom warned him. There was no reply back, and Tom put the device back into his coat pocket.

"Do you think he's telling the truth?" Ben asked his Dad once he realized the conversation was over.

"I have no clue. All I do know is that we need to get Hal out of there. And if there's even the slightest chance that Anthony is being honest, we have to take it." Tom replied to his middle son.

"Problem is, if we go that far out, we won't have enough gas in the truck to make it back to Fayetteville. We won't even be able to get to Chinatown." Anne pointed out, trying to be logical as she knew Tom, Ben, Matt, and Maggie would be too considered in rescuing Hal to think of their escape, even though she was all willing to forget about it if it meant that they could save Hal.

"We can worry about that later. Now, let's go get Hal back." Tom answered. Nobody protested that as Anne pressed her foot down harder on the gas pedal.

 **AN** – So the question is, will I be nice and let them rescue Hal next chapter, or not. Guess you all will have to wait to find out. Hal's point of view as well as others about what Hal said to his Dad will come up in the next few chapters. See you all soon!


	5. We Have Something to Protect

**Disclaimer** – Still own nothing.

 **AN** – Thank you Jubs and scienceficfan24 for your amazing reviews. I hope you two, as well as all other readers enjoy this chapter. This is a pretty long chapter, but it does have a happy end. Please review and

 **Enjoy!**

Hal stared at the large crack in the corner of the ceiling straight ahead, where the ground met the house on top of the cellar. There wasn't anything to do but watch the sunlight slowly disappear as the day drew to a close. He couldn't do anything else. He had tried to free himself long enough to know he wasn't going anywhere, and to also cut his wrists to the point of drawing blood.

When his wrists got too sore, he had tried to fall asleep again, yet still couldn't. Even when the sun was shining on him, he shivered. And he could only rest his head on his left shoulder. After trying to rest on his right, the cut Pope had made on his neck opened and started bleeding again. But after having his head turned to the other side for so long, his neck cramped up.

At least he wasn't gagged anymore. He still wasn't sure why Pope did that in the first place, it's not like he was being loud or disruptive. He wondered though what would happen if he did yell for help. Nothing good probably. He had no idea what kind of people had joined up with the man's group, or if there were any skitters in the area. Even if he did call for help and someone did come, without the keys, they couldn't help. And if Pope realized what was going on, well, Hal decided it was better to just keep quiet.

The creaking of the cellar door instantly had Hal turning his head to see who was coming in, and relaxed when he saw that it was only Anthony. He leaned against the post while the man made his way towards him, kneeling down on his right.

"Hey. Thirsty?" Anthony asked, holding up a bottle filled with water. Hal didn't need to answer. The cop already knew the answer was 'yes' as he held the bottle by his lips. After drinking a few gulps, Hal pulled away.

"Thanks." Hal said quietly and lowered his head a little. Holding his head up felt like holding up a stack of bricks. He was so tired, and the throbbing that had been present in his head ever since the first punch Pope landed on him had been kicked up a notch.

"No problem." Anthony replied as he sat the bottle down on the ground. Looking back at Hal, he saw the toll the last few days had on him. The bruises were becoming more pronounced as his skin became paler. Anthony couldn't tell if the dark marks under his eyes were bruises or evidence of lack of sleep anymore.

"You look terrible." Anthony told him.

"Don't feel any better than that either." Hal answered honestly. He was too tired to care about what the man thought. It's not like it really mattered what he looked like or what he felt like. It wasn't going to be long before Pope finally ended this and they both knew it.

"Want some more?" Anthony offered, as though he was actually trying to make him feel better. Hal turned to see that Anthony had picked up the plastic bottle and was holding it out to him.

"Why are you doing this?" Hal asked, staring at Anthony with complete confusion. Only a few days ago, Anthony was all too willing to help Pope kill him and get revenge against his Dad. Now, he was acting concerned about him and giving him water and letting him say his goodbyes to his Dad. What made him change his mind and behavior?

"Doing what?" Anthony wondered, looking slightly puzzled at his question.

"Helping me." Hal clarified. For a moment, Anthony just stared at him, then looked down at the cement floor, placing the bottle back down beside his leg.

"Because I was wrong. Neither you nor your Dad deserve any of this, and I'm sorry." Anthony raised his head and looked Hal straight in his eyes, "But please, let me help make this right."

"If you want to help, get me out of here. Or stop Pope, or stop my Dad from actually coming." Hal was all too willing to give the man a few suggestions. He had no idea if Anthony was truly being sincere and if he was, he still didn't know to what lengths he was willing to go to make it right.

"Don't worry. It won't be long now." Anthony claimed as he reached for the bottle from where he had placed it.

"What?" Hal asked, having no idea what Anthony was talking about. Was he actually going to try and help him escape?

"Better you don't know. But, you'll need your strength, so here." Anthony offered the plastic bottle to Hal again. He stared at the former cop for a moment before he moved his head to drink more of the water.

"What are you doing down here?" A loud angry voice demanded. Hal lifted his head to see Pope standing at the foot of the stairs as Anthony pulled the bottle away and also turned to look at who had come in. Neither of them had heard Pope open the door or walk down the steps.

"You told me to keep him alive, remember? He needs water to live." Anthony reminded the criminal, trying to keep his voice as steady and neutral as possible. Pope looked angry, but he remembered what he had said, and couldn't deny a man's need for hydration.

When Pope didn't say anything else, Anthony turned back to Hal, tipping the bottle against his lips so he could drink. Hal only swallowed three gulps before Pope cut in.

"I think he's had enough now. Now get." Pope ordered, barely holding in his anger. Anthony put the cap back on the bottle and made his way towards the stairs.

As he climbed onto the first step, he looked back to see Pope watching him, as though he was making sure that Anthony was leaving. Turning his sights on Hal, he saw the young man also watching him.

The expression on Hal's face was one of reassurance, as though he was trying to tell Anthony that it was okay to leave. Yet there was also a bit of resignation, saying that he was okay with whatever Pope was planning to do to him. Anthony knew that look, he had seen it on one too many cops, too many soldiers faces. He hated that look.

Once he saw that look on Hal's face, Anthony turned and continued up the stairs. After he closed the cellar door, he went inside the house and found the walkie talkie, again on the kitchen table. He grabbed it, and headed to an empty bedroom so no one would hear him.

"Tom, you close yet?" Anthony asked quietly, just in case someone was close by.

"Be there in a few minutes. Is Hal okay?" Tom immediately asked.

"For the moment. But the sooner you get here the better." Anthony responded. Tom was silent for a few seconds, then spoke.

"I'll be there soon." When Anthony heard that, he put the device into his jacket pocket and made his way to the barn across the yard where the other members of the group were holding up. He needed to make sure they wouldn't get caught in the crossfire of what was about to go down.

 **FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Hal watched in silence as Pope started pacing in front of him. After Anthony had disappeared through the door, closing it behind him, Pope started walking back and forth in front of him, as though he trying to figure out what to do. It was clear that Pope did not expect to find Anthony down here and it seemed to have made him uneasy. Hal wondered if something happened between them.

When Pope saw that Hal was staring at him, he stopped, and stared back. It was then the criminal finally decided on doing whatever he was planning to do.

"Well young Mason, I hope you're feeling more talkative than you were yesterday." Pope said with false sincerity.

"You miss my company that much Pope?" Hal asked, sarcasm dripping from his voice. Quickly coming over, Pope bent down and slammed his fist into Hal's cheek. The punch forced Hal's head to turn as well as reopen the cut on his cheekbone, fresh blood running down his face.

"Oh, so you miss having a reason to punch me. You just being a b*****d doesn't cut it anymore?" Hal wondered, slowly turning his head to back so he could see what Pope's reaction was going to be.

"You're a real smart a**. Not at all like your Daddy. Must've gotten it from your Mama huh?" If Hal had the power to kill just by giving someone a certain look, Pope would've been pushing up daisies, and Pope quickly realized it.

"Oh, did I hit a sore spot?" Pope snickered, crouching down so he was eye level with him. If Hal had at least one of his hands free, he would've punched the smirk right off of the man's face.

"You didn't even know her. If you think that my Dad has no idea about the pain you're feeling, he does. He's felt it every day since my Mom died, but her death wasn't my Dad's fault, and neither was Sara's. They were both killed by the aliens." The minute the words left Hal's mouth, Pope punched him again, this time in the jaw.

"Don't you dare talk about Sara! The stupid aliens may have been the ones to end her life, but it was only because of your Daddy. He could've saved her, and he chose not too. She's only dead because of him." Pope snapped, bending closer so he was only inches away from Hal's face.

"Killing me, and killing my Dad isn't going to bring her back." Hal told him. The now bald man reached forward and wrapped his large hand around Hal's neck and squeezed, not tight enough to make him pass out, but enough that breathing was harder.

"You think I don't know that? Of course I know that. But she deserves justice. Your Dad needs to pay for what he did. And I intend to make sure that he does." Pope snarled into Hal's face. Hal didn't say anything, he knew it was useless to talk to the man who kidnapped him.

Pope continued to glare at him for another moment before he released his grip on Hal's neck and moved his arm farther from him. At first, Hal thought he was getting ready to punch him again, but instead, he reached to something on the floor behind him. When Pope brought his arm back forward, Hal saw the duct tape in his hand.

 _Seriously? He was going to gag him again? What, was he scared he was going to start screaming for help or something?_ Hal wondered as Pope ripped off a strip of the tape.

"Don't worry about your Dad. His death will be quick." Pope told him with a smile as he placed the tape tightly over Hal's mouth, then added, "Yours on the other hand, not so much."

Pope actually patted Hal's cheek and he jerked his head away. Laughing, his captor stood and headed up the stairs, leaving Hal alone once again. As the door shut, Hal wished Pope's punch had knocked him out, not just so that he could get some sleep, but also so that ideas of how Pope was going to kill him wouldn't be flooding his mind like they were now.

 **FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Not long after Tom's quick conversation with Anthony, the large barn and farmhouse came into view. Anne slowly pulled into the long drive way and stopped the truck right at the edge where the trees kept the truck hidden. Once they were parked, everyone got out of the vehicle.

"We go on foot from here. Any closer and Pope or anyone who's with him will either see the truck or hear it." Tom told them. He peaked out behind the trees to get a look at the farmhouse and barn. There was a light coming from the barn, but other than that, it looked completely empty.

"There's no way I can convince you all to stay here, is there?" Tom questioned, turning around to look at his sons, wife, and Maggie. The expressions on the four people's faces told him the answer to that.

Tom stared at the four of them for a moment. He didn't want any of them to come with him. His oldest son's life was at stake and the thought of putting his other two sons and wife at risk terrified him.

This was going to be dangerous, especially with how unhinged Pope had become. As much as he knew they all wanted to come, he needed fighters who he knew could handle themselves.

"Okay. Ben and Maggie, you guys come with me. Matt and Anne, you stay here." Tom decided. With their spikes, Ben and Maggie would have a greater advantage. Despite how much fights he had been in, Matt was still too young in Tom's opinion, and Anne had been driving all night and day. He knew she needed to rest.

"What? No, I'm coming with you." Matt immediately protested. Tom went over to his youngest and bent down so he was eye level with him.

"Matt, don't argue with me. If I could, I'd make Ben and Maggie stay here too, but I might need help and I don't want to risk anyone more than I have to. Besides, if this goes south, we're going to need backup." Tom tried to convince the boy. Matt lowered his head, staring at the ground. When he looked back up at his father, Tom saw tears starting to gather in his eyes.

"Just get him back." Matt pleaded, his eyes filled with a desperation that no one at his age should ever have. Tom put his hand on Matt's shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

"I will, I promise." Tom agreed. Matt quickly threw his arms around his Dad in a quick hug, before pulling away and heading back to the truck.

Tom stood back up straight and turned his gaze over to Anne. The doctor didn't like this new arrangement her husband had come up with any more than Matt did, but she knew he was right. Ben and Maggie were the best fighters, and were able to keep themselves from getting to emotional despite how much they loved and cared for Hal. Matt would be too unpredictable and she had been up for at least 24 hours. She wouldn't be able to fight as well as the rest of them, and if Hal was injured, she needed to be ready to help him. So, she gave her husband a nod, silently telling him that she wasn't going to fight him on this.

Tom nodded back, then went over to where Ben and Maggie were waiting. They both were holding their guns tightly, ready to fire at whoever or whatever would get in their way. Putting the walkie talkie in his jacket pocket, just in case he had to contact Anthony, Tom held up his gun and started heading down the road towards the farmhouse, Ben and Maggie right behind him.

 **FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Tom, Ben, and Maggie stayed along the treeline so they would have some cover yet still be able to keep an eye on the buildings and anyone who was on the property. Once they reached a spot where they were only a few feet away from the house, they got down on their knees behind some bushes so they were completely hidden. Tom then pulled out the walkie talkie.

"Pope, you there?" Tom called. He didn't know if Anthony had the radio or if Pope was in hearing range, so he called for the criminal just in case.

"Tom, it's me." Anthony's voice replied back.

"I'm here. Where's Hal?" Tom asked, making it sound like he was still alone. Just in case this was a trap, he didn't want to reveal Ben and Maggie's presence. He peaked his head out above the bush to see if he could spot Anthony around, but saw only two figures standing by the door of the house. He couldn't tell who they were, though from the way they were acting, he knew neither of them was Anthony.

"You can't just go in and get him. You need something from Pope first, and you're not going to get it without causing a firefight." Anthony told him. Tom looked over at Ben and Maggie. From the way they were gripping their weapons, he knew they were all too willing to start a fight.

"Okay. How many people are going to be with Pope firing back?" Tom questioned, still making it sound like he was alone.

"Only two, Zack and Nico. They're by the house. The rest of us are in the barn. I told them everything. They don't want any part of this. They want Pope gone too." Anthony informed him.

"Make sure they stay out of the way then. Keep them in the barn." Tom responded. He had no interest in killing any more people than he had too.

"Will do." Anthony agreed.

"And Pope? Where's he?" Tom asked. He knew where two of the threats were, and where the others were, but he had no idea where the group's leader was.

"He's still in the house." Anthony replied. Tom stayed quiet for a minute, thinking over all the information he had just been given. If the cop was telling the truth, then this would be fairly easy. He would just have to start firing, make sure that Zack and Nico would no longer be a threat, Pope would come out once he heard the gunfire, and he could get whatever he apparently needed from the criminal, then get Hal and get out.

"Okay, then if you really want to help us, now's your chance." Tom told Anthony before he put the device back in his pocket, stood up, and started shooting.

He didn't shoot directly at the house, or the barn. Tom had no idea where his son actually was and didn't want to risk possibly hitting him if he was in any of the buildings. Maggie and Ben were quick to follow his example.

Zack and Nico had turned to look in their direction as soon as the three of them started shooting. It took only a second for them to realize what was going on, and less than that to return fire.

After a few lucky shots, the two fighters who had sided with Pope fell to the ground, their bodies unmoving. Once he saw that they were eliminated, Tom turned to Ben and Maggie.

"You two stay here. Don't come out unless you have too." Tom ordered the fighters. If they had any protests, they kept them to themselves and nodded, agreeing to follow his orders. Standing up, Tom started to make his way out of the treeline and towards the house. He was only a few feet away from the house when he heard footsteps coming from inside.

The door opened and Pope came outside. At first, he stared at the bodies of the two people he knew were completely loyal to him. He started walking towards them when Tom cocked his gun. The criminal lifted his head and looked him right in the eye.

It only took a second for Pope to react. He grabbed the handgun that was in the holster but Tom had already lifted his gun and fired, hitting Pope right in his shoulder. The bald man instinctively turned, but when he turned back, Tom saw that he had still managed to grab his gun and had it pointed at him.

 _BANG!_

Another gun fired, hitting the hand Pope was using to hold his gun. With small shriek, Pope dropped the gun and fell to his knees. But it wasn't Tom who had fired that shot. He turned his head to look over his shoulder and saw Ben and Maggie coming up behind him. Apparently they decided that he needed help. Turning his attention back to the man on his knees in front of him, Tom lifted his gun again, this time pointing right at Pope's chest.

"Where is he?" Tom demanded, his tone cold and harsh. It was obvious that there was nothing he wasn't willing to do to find his son. The looks on Ben and Maggie's faces told Pope they would be helping Tom every step of the way if it meant they would find and save Hal.

"Who?" Pope asked as he looked up at the Mason father, revealing a sadistic smile. Tom's face hardened at the sight.

"You know who. Hal, where's Hal?" Tom demanded again, this time louder as he moved closer to his son's kidnapper.

"More than six feet under, I'll tell you that." Pope laughed with a grin crazier than the Joker from Batman.

"You b*****d!" Tom yelled as he pulled the trigger. Pope screamed as the bullet went right through his knee.

"TOM! Hal's alive! He's alive, I'll take you to him." Anthony called out as he ran out from the barn towards them.

When Tom told him what was about to happen, he quickly warned the others who they had saved from the ghetto. They reminded him that they wanted no part of this. Anthony told them that they could make their way to the 2nd Mass with them, that is, if Tom let him come back, but they agreed that they didn't want to fight. They wanted to stay at the house.

It was at that point that he heard the gunfire. Anthony stuck his head out of the door in time to see Zack and Nico fall to the ground. He turned back to the others, telling them to stay until the fight stopped and they were gone, just to be safe. Then he made his way to the house at a walk instead of a run so that he wouldn't spook Tom. By the time he got to the house, Pope had already been shot twice and was on his knees in front of Tom, Ben, and Maggie. Guess the father lied about coming alone.

When he heard Pope taunt Tom and the former President shoot him again, Anthony immediately came to his defense. Though he knew that neither Tom, Ben, or Maggie would feel any guilt about killing the man who had caused them and their family so much pain and trouble, he was sick of this, sick of humans getting hurt and dying for revenge and anger.

Pope however, did not seem to appreciate Anthony's defense. Instead, he turned to look at Anthony, the taunting expression replaced with pure rage and hatred and betrayal as he realized who must've been the one to tell Tom where they were.

"Why you little-" Pope started to stand up and was about to attack the man who had betrayed him, but the bullets that Tom, Maggie, and Ben all fired hit him right in his back and the back of his head, killing him instantly. As Pope's body fell to the ground, Tom rushed over to Anthony.

"Where is he?" Tom asked, letting his desperation seep into his voice, replacing his anger.

"I'll show you. Just need something first." Anthony revealed, then slowly made his way over to Pope's body. Bending down, he reached into the pocket of the dead man's leather jacket and pulled out a ring filled with keys. Holding them up so Tom, Ben, and Maggie could see what it was, Anthony stood up and made his way back to Tom.

"He's over here." Anthony told the father, then led him and the two fighters over to the side of the house, to the cellar door.

Anthony looked back to make sure they were all with him. When he saw that they had followed him, he opened the door and started heading down the stairs. Stepping off the last wooden plank, he looked over at Pope's captive. Hal was leaning his head on his shoulder, and didn't really turn to see who was there until after Anthony reached the floor, then sat up in surprise when he caught the sight of his Dad right behind him.

"Hal!" Tom shouted at the sight of his oldest son. He ran over to kneel down beside him and put one hand on the back of Hal's head, the other on Hal's shoulder and pulled his son close to him, his head resting on Tom's shoulder. Maggie and Ben rushed to Hal's other side as Anthony knelt down behind the wooden beam so he could free Hal from the handcuffs and chain.

"It's okay, it's okay." Tom whispered into Hal's ear. Hal pressed his face further into his Dad's shoulder, accepting the comfort he was receiving even though his neck was starting to hurt since he couldn't lean forward that much, not with the chain link still restraining him to the post.

Slowly, Tom let go so he could get a better look at Hal. There were bruises and cuts all over his son's face, some of them covered in dried blood that had run down from the scrapes. Tom felt his heart tighten at the injuries and frowned at the sight of the duct tape covering Hal's mouth. He lifted his hand and gently peeled back the tape, throwing it across the room with disdain before turning back to his son.

"Are you alright?" Tom asked. Hal nodded, turning his head in the opposite direction when he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Maggie, who looked like she was ready to kill someone. When he felt the rope around his ankles loosen, Hal looked over to see that Ben had used his knife to cut the rope, freeing his legs.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm fine." Hal answered his father's question. Anthony finally managed to unlock the handcuffs, then moved to take off the lock keeping the chain in place. Once Anthony got the lock off, the chain fell onto Hal's lap and he fully moved his arms forward, the pain his shoulders doubling at the change in position after being under such a strain for so long.

"We're getting you out of here. Can you stand?" Tom questioned, putting one hand on Hal's shoulder while the other gently grabbed Hal's arm ready to help the young man if he needed it.

"Yeah, I'm good." Hal replied, though he let his Dad and Maggie, who was still on Hal's other side, help him up. Once he was standing though, Tom didn't let go. Instead, he wrapped his arm around Hal and pulled him close again.

"Let's get out of here." Tom declared. Hal had no protests to that. Keeping an arm around him, Tom led Hal toward the stairs.

Once they got outside, Tom started to head for the road, his arm still around his son. Hal followed his father's lead in a relieved and exhausted daze. Despite that, he kept moving, wanting to get as far away as possible, until he saw Pope's body.

Tom stopped walking when he felt Hal stop. He turned his head to see what was wrong, and saw Hal staring at the body of his kidnapper. Taking his eyes off of Pope, he turned to look at his son.

"Come on, let's go." Tom whispered gently in Hal's ear and his pulled the young man closer to him. Numbly, Hal nodded and Tom again started for the road, Hal following his father.

They made their trek down the driveway in silence. Tom kept his hold on Hal the entire way. He tried to keep his grip gentle, but all his instincts told him to hold his son as tight as he could and never let him go, so he was not exactly sure how tight his grip was. Hal didn't say anything about it though, so Tom kept moving.

Maggie stayed by Hal on his other side. She was a few steps behind him, as she didn't want to crowd around him, but she kept her eyes on him, just in case something happened and he needed help. Even though it was pretty dark outside, Maggie could tell that Hal was more injured than he was letting on.

Behind them were Anthony and Ben. Anthony kept his eyes forward, knowing that with Pope, Zack, and Nico dead, there wouldn't be any threat from behind. Ben though, kept turning his gaze from his brother, to Anthony. Even though the former cop had told them where they were and said he was sorry and wanted to make things right, Ben didn't trust him. Not when he saw the state his older brother was in.

It took his Dad almost 15 minutes before he loosened his grip on him. Even though Hal knew he was okay and could walk by himself, his strength and awareness growing with every passing minute, he wasn't going to push his Dad's support away right now. In fact, his father's arm around him comforted him, not that he was going to let him know that. The last thing his Dad needed to know was how terrified he actually had been over the last few days.

Slowly but surely, they reached the end of the driveway where there was a lone truck waiting. Hal could see two figures inside, but with the absence of light and with the trees overhead, he couldn't see who they were, though he had a pretty good idea. Then both of the doors opened and Anne and Matt got out of the vehicle.

"Hal!" Hal smiled at the sound of his youngest brother calling out his name as Matt came running over and threw his arms around Hal's waist. Biting his cheek to keep from gasping in pain as his brother's arms tightened around his sore ribs, Hal placed his free arm over Matt's shoulders, pulling him close, thought not tightly so he wouldn't put pressure on the cut on his arm.

"Hey buddy. It's okay, I'm okay." Hal said quietly, lowering his head to give Matt a quick kiss on top of his head.

"Oh, my word." Anne's shocked voice caused Hal to look up as his stepmother made her way over to them with a horrified look on her face. Matt moved to the side so Anne could approach his brother. The doctor lifted her hand as though to touch his face, but pulled her hand away, scared that it might hurt him with all the bruises.

"I'm fine Anne, don't worry." Hal said with an easy smile. The look on the doctor's face told Hal that she didn't believe him, but she kept from saying so, at least for now.

"Guys, we gotta move." Anthony reminded them. Tom held out his hand for the keys, which Anne grabbed from her pocket and handed them to her husband. Ben, Maggie, and Matt got into the back of the truck while Anne went over to Hal and grabbed his arm, offering him support.

"I'm checking you out the minute we get to safety." Anne told him in her no-nonsense voice as they moved to the back of the truck, and Hal found himself giving her a grin.

"Wouldn't expect anything else." Hal replied as he accepted Ben's outstretched hand and let his middle brother help pull him into the back end of the truck.

 **AN** – Yay, Hal's rescued. Though I feel I should warn you all, that this story is nowhere finished, nor is Hal completely out of the woods. Like I said in the synopsis, this story will continue all through episode 6, 7, and 8. Next chapter will be up in a week. See you all soon!


	6. We Have Something to Care For

**Disclaimer** – Still own nothing. Please review and

 **Enjoy!**

Hal sat on the large bed in the bedroom, watching the sunrise through the window only a few feet away. After leaving the farmhouse, they drove back into the town where apparently Pope had first taken him. Hal though, slept through most of the ride. It wasn't a very restful sleep, not with all the bumps in the road, and not with Anne constantly checking on him, just in case he did have a concussion, but it was sleep nonetheless.

When they got into town, his Dad pulled into the parking lot of a random house. The gas was almost on empty, and he didn't want to use it all just in case they would have to make a quick getaway. Everyone was also pretty tired, especially his Dad. Apparently, his Dad had been up just as much as Hal had been, constantly searching for him.

"Hey, you okay?" Hal turned his head to see Maggie standing by the door carrying a bowl in both of her hands.

"Yeah, just a little tired." Hal answered with a smile. The corner of Maggie's lips moved up a little, but her eyes were still filled with worry.

"Well, as soon as we get you cleaned up and Anne makes sure you're okay, you can sleep." Maggie told him, putting the bowl down on the nightstand. Hal reached forward to grab the washcloth that he saw was in the bowl, but Maggie grabbed it before he could, then looked over at him with a confused and almost suspicious expression.

"What do you think you're doing?" Maggie asked in an accusing tone.

"I know I probably look like h*ll, but I can clean my own face." Hal replied, giving her an half smile as he reached for the cloth again, but Maggie pulled her hand away so it was out of his reach.

"Hal, you were kidnapped, beaten the crap out of for almost five days, and look like you're about to pass out at any moment. The least I can do is help clean you up." Maggie explained.

Maggie stared at Hal, who stared back at her. She had been worried sick over the last few days ever since she learned that Pope had kidnapped Hal. She had never felt more helpless, being unable to stop Pope from hurting him. The least she could do was clean up the mess he made.

Realizing that Maggie wasn't going to budge on this, Hal lowered his hands. She gave him a grateful smile as she started wiping the blood from the corner of his forehead, right on his hairline. Going as gently as she could, Maggie continued cleaning his face.

They were both silent, Maggie concentrating on her task while Hal watched her. Maggie didn't look down at him though. After everything that had happened between them, and with Ben, she had a hard time meeting his eyes, knowing all the heartache she's caused him. While she wasn't the cause of the pain his was probably feeling now, she hated seeing that look in those brown eyes that she loved so much.

Hal continued watching Maggie as she gently wiped the blood away from his face. She looked so focused, as though she was trying to do more than just clean the cuts, like she was trying to erase any and all evidence of what happened. She quickly finished cleaning his forehead, moving to wipe off the cut on the corner of his eyebrow.

When she finished cleaning that cut, she lowered her hand to wipe the blood away from the cut on his cheek and Hal winced when she put too much pressure on the bruise under the injury.

"Sorry." Maggie apologized when she saw him wince. Hal shook his head.

"Don't worry about it. It's not you fault." Hal told her, giving her a grin to assure her. Maggie stared at him for a minute before continuing her task.

"Didn't think you guys were with my Dad." Hal revealed once the silence became too heavy. He had too much of silence over the last four days. Or was it five?

"We weren't at first, because we didn't know. Weaver and Anne told us that you and your Dad were scouting ahead. But when you guys didn't show up after three days, they told us the truth, and we came after you two." Maggie explained as she moved to wipe away the dried blood on the corner of his lip.

"Thanks." Hal responded sincerely. If they hadn't been there with his Dad, and it was just him and Anthony who rescued him, then he might not have made it.

"You once said that no matter where I go, you'd find me, and you did, in Chinatown. Figured it was my turn now." Maggie told him, shrugging her shoulders. Hal smiled as he remembered the day he told her that.

As Maggie finished cleaning the cut on Hal's lip, she took another look at his face. He looked better without all the dried blood on his face, but without it, you could see the bruises so clearly. It looked like the entire left side of his face was one giant bruise, though she knew that they were actually several bruises from several punches that Pope had given him.

She was about to put the cloth back in the bowl when she didn't see anymore blood on his face, but then she saw the blood on his neck. Putting her hand under his chin and jaw, Maggie gently lifted and tilted his head so she could better see what it was. As she washed the blood away, the cut underneath was revealed. It wasn't very deep, but deep enough to know it wasn't from a punch or a fall. Someone had cut him with a knife.

"Besides, you didn't actually think that we'd just leave you to die, did you?" Maggie stated, remembering how Hal told his Dad to leave him at Pope's mercy.

Even though he stayed still, Hal suddenly tensed, instantly realizing what Maggie meant. She may have worded it like a joke, but there was nothing lighthearted in her tone and Hal's smile fell from his face.

Ever since he had been rescued and learned that Anne, Maggie, and his brothers were with his Dad, he wondered if they were there when he had told his Dad to leave him, and to tell them that he loved them. Now with Maggie's explanation of what happened, and her statement, he knew they were.

"Maggie," Hal started, though he didn't really know what to say. He could tell that she was angry or upset about something, but he couldn't tell what about, his head was getting foggy. It was starting to get hard to think clearly. Luckily, the sound of approaching footsteps interrupted him.

"Got the med bag." Anne said as she came in the room. Tom, Matt, and Ben right behind him. Once they were all there, Hal spotted Anthony standing by the doorway, watching with concern.

"You guys, I know you're all worried, but I'm fine." Hal said as his Dad and Anne came over to him while Ben and Matt stood by the door near Anthony.

"The bruises and blood say otherwise Hal." Maggie told the young man, putting the cloth back into the bowl of water and moving to the side so she was out of the way.

"Besides, if you are as fine as you say, then this won't take long." Anne informed him with a smile, coming to stand in front of him while Tom stood by Hal's side, and put a hand on Hal's shoulder.

"How are your wrists?" Anne asked, seeing that Maggie had already cleaned up the cuts on his face. Hal looked down at his wrists, seeing the bruises and scrapes for the first time. When they rescued him, he had never actually looked or checked out his injuries. He had been too dazed and too exhausted to really think about.

"They're fine." Hal answered as Anne took the wet cloth Maggie offered her.

Again, Hal sat silently as he let the doctor clean up his injuries. Unfortunately, sitting on the bed doing nothing gave the exhaustion he had been fighting a chance to take over. When the doctor went to clean his left wrist, she stopped. Hal looked up to see a worried look in her eyes.

"What?" Hal broke the silence.

"What happened here?" Anne asked, pointing at the bandage around Hal's left arm. Hal looked down at what Anne had seen and held in a groan.

He knew that his Dad had probably already figured out what happened since he was the only one who heard him scream, but Hal knew what would happen if he told everyone what Pope did. However, now that Anne had drawn attention the injury, there was no way he could blow off their concern.

"Pope, and a knife." Hal kept his head down when he answered. He didn't want to see the expressions on their faces. The last thing he wanted was pity. All he wanted right now was to sleep.

Hal saw Anne reached forward and moved his arm so she could grab it. She gently wrapped her hand around his wrist, just below the bruises and started to unwrap the bandage. As she pulled the gauze pad off, Hal felt his Dad's hand that was still on his shoulder start to squeeze tightly. He looked up to see that his Dad had completely tensed with a pained expression on his face.

"Anthony stitched it?" Anne questioned, noticing the somewhat neatness of the stitches. As a former cop, Anthony had experience handling injuries, and had helped her during the four months they were all separated before regrouping in Chinatown.

"Yeah." Hal answered, shooting the man in question a glance over his shoulder before looking back up at Anne who was still inspecting the injury.

"Well, looks to be okay. It's already starting to close. I'm going to give you an antibiotic, just in case. And when we get back to the 2nd Mass, I'm going to give you a more thorough check over." Anne told him, letting go of his arm and moving to grab something out of her bag.

"Great." Hal mumbled sarcastically. It was common knowledge that he hated being hospitals and infirmaries, almost as much as Maggie. He hated feeling useless.

"Hey, considering what all could have happened over the last five days, it could've been a lot worse." Anne reminded him, pulling out some gauze and a bandage to wrap his arm, as well as a small syringe. Everyone in the room instantly tensed at the doctor's statement, completely upset at how right she was. It was far too close for anyone's comfort.

"Yeah, skitters could be attacking us right now." Matt said suddenly, trying to lighten up the mood. No one wanted to think about what all could've gone wrong in the whole situation that Hal had ended up in.

Even though it was a weak joke, Hal laughed, then immediately stopped as the throbbing in his ribs got worse and he wrapped his good arm around himself loosely. He had hoped no one would really notice but as he looked up at Anne, who was about to check for a concussion, he saw that she had caught it.

The doctor opened her mouth to say something, but Hal subtly shook his head, trying to tell her to leave it. Anne gave him a quizzical look, clearly wanting an explanation. The only one Hal gave was a glance at his Dad and brothers, who were standing on the other side of the room, giving them all some space. He had seen the looks on their faces when they saw the bruises on his face, he didn't want them to see what injuries could possibly be hidden under his shirt.

"Hey, you guys packed some extra clothes for Hal, right?" Anne asked, looking over at Ben and Matt once she realized what Hal was trying to say. He didn't want his family to see something. While she could probably get his brothers out of the room, but they both knew there was no way Tom would be letting Hal out of his sight.

"Um, yeah, we did. They're in a bag still in the truck." Ben answered, wondering why Anne suddenly brought that up.

"Why don't you two go get it?" While Anne made it sound like a suggestion, Ben was pretty sure it was an order. Looking at Anne then to his brother, he quickly came to the conclusion she wanted them to leave the room.

"Yeah, sure. Come on Matt." Ben put his hand against his younger brother's back and led him out of the room.

"Okay. Hal, take off your shirt." Anne ordered him the minute his brothers gone. Hesitantly, he started pulling his shirt up. While he was glad that Anne had gotten Matt and Ben out of eyesight, he still didn't his Dad or Maggie to see.

As the shirt came up over his head, he heard a gasp escape Anne's lips and the horrified look that she had on when she first saw him was back on her face. The same look was also on his Dad and Maggie's face.

After Hal placed the shirt on the bed, he looked down to see the injury for himself, and his eyes widened. In the center of his chest, right between his ribs, was a large, dark purple bruise. Across his shoulders and collarbone, were three, long, red lines that Hal knew was from the chain that Pope had Zack use to restrain to the beam.

When he started to look away at the injuries, he noticed another cluster of small bruises in the shape of a pair of hands on his left bicep. Quickly turning his head to the right, he saw the same bruises on his right bicep too. Probably from when Zack and Nico held him while Pope beat the crap out of him.

"Oh my word. Does anything feel broken?" Anne asked, staring at the bruises on his ribs.

"No." Hal replied, thinking it best to talk as little as possible. The more he assured them that he was fine, the less likely they were to believe him right now.

"Does it really hurt?" Anne inquired as the doctor in her now fully taking control.

"No." Hal replied. Keeping to one worded answers was easier, and the exhaustion he had been battling for days was starting to take over.

"Don't lie to me. How bad does it hurt?" Anne demanded somewhat forcefully, staring into his eyes, ready to catch any lie that he might tell.

"I don't even notice it, until I breathe." Hal reluctantly confessed. Anne's face became more gentle and sympathetic when she heard that, and Hal hated it. He didn't want to be pitied, all he wanted right now was to sleep.

After a few seconds, Anne stretched her arm out towards him. Knowing that she was checking for broken ribs, Hal kept still. When her fingers pushed against the bruises, trying to feel if anything was actually broken, Hal bit his cheek to keep from wincing though he couldn't help but flinch at the added pain. When she was done, Anne pulled her hand away.

"Well, doesn't seem like anything's broken. But some of your ribs could still be cracked or fractured. I'm going to wrap them just to be on the safe side." Hal didn't respond to that.

"Hey, we got the," Matt stopped midsentence when he saw Anne wrapping his oldest brother's ribs as everyone turned to look at them. Even though they were now completely covered, Matt knew what was underneath the white wrap. And without Hal's shirt, the bruises on his upper arms and across his shoulders and collarbone were completely exposed.

"Are you okay?" Matt asked worriedly, staring at his oldest brother with wide eyes. Ben clenched his jaw at the sight of the bruises, but didn't say anything. He knew exactly how his older brother was going to respond.

"I'm fine guys. Just tired." Hal told them as his younger brothers came over to the bed and put the bag at the foot of the bed.

No one said anything else as Anne finished wrapping ribs. When she was done, Ben opened the bag and handed Hal a gray T-shirt while the doctor grabbed the syringe with the antibiotics that she had pulled out of her medical bag earlier before she realized Hal also had bruised ribs. She waited until Hal had put his shirt on before injecting the medication into his arm.

"There, done." Anne said as the pulled the needle out of his arm and put it back in the bag.

"Does that mean I can sleep now?" Hal asked, his exhaustion clear in his voice. Anne faced him again, gently putting hand under his chin and lifted his head up.

"Look at me." The doctor instructed. Hal raised his eyes and stared up at her. She didn't say anything else, she just stared, completely focused on whatever she was doing.

"What are you looking for?" Hal wondered after a minute.

"You have a concussion, which isn't surprising. Just trying to see how bad it is." Anne replied, her brows furrowing in concentration. Again, she just stared at him, not saying anything. Getting annoyed, Hal lifted his hand and gently pushed Anne's away from his chin.

"I promise, I'm okay." Hal repeated for what felt like the millionth time in the last few hours. His stepmother looked like she was about to say something, but someone else spoke first.

"Anne?" Anthony called. Everyone besides Hal turned to look over at the man standing in the doorway. He had been so quiet, and they had been so focused on Hal that they had forgotten the man was even there. Anne reluctantly pushed past Tom and made her way over to the former cop.

"What Anthony?" Anne asked, unable to keep the annoyance out of her voice. While he did help them rescue Hal, she still wasn't sure how honest he was being about making things right, and she didn't like being around him since the last night she was, he led her straight to Pope who wanted to kill her.

"As far as I'm aware of, the only sleep Hal has gotten over the last four, five days is when Pope knocked him out." Anthony told her. Anne stared in mild shock. While she could tell that Hal was exhausted, she didn't realize how long he had actually gone without rest. No wonder he kept repeating his want for sleep.

"How many times did he do that?" Anne asked, starting to get concerned at how badly Hal's head could've been hurt. Being knocked out multiple times over such a short period could cause something worse than a concussion.

"Three, I think. And even then, I don't think he was out for long." Anthony informed the doctor, trying to keep his voice neutral. He knew that she was uncomfortable being anywhere near him and he didn't blame her. The last thing he wanted to do was make it worse.

"Has he shown any sign of a severe brain or skull injury?" The doctor inquired after absorbing the information.

"Besides looking like he's ready to pass out any minute, no." Anthony replied.

"Any other injury or something like that, that I should know about?" Anne wondered. While she was on the fence about trusting the man who had delivered her to Pope to be killed for revenge, he did seem to be trying to make it up. Not to mention, he was the best person to get insight on to what all happened to her stepson since there was no way Hal would actually talk about it or reveal anything that would cause people to worry or pity him.

"He's probably still a little dehydrated. Pope didn't give him any water. I started giving him some on the fourth day and have since." Anthony answered without hesitation.

"When was the last time he had water?" Anne asked, knowing the effects dehydration could have on a person.

"About an hour before Tom showed up." The former cop replied.

"What about food?" Anne barely finished her question before Anthony started shaking his head. The doctor sighed, looking down at the ground as the thought of what all the young man had been through started running through her mind. Pope really had no regard for anything even remotely humane, did he?

"Anne!" Anne quickly turned her head when she heard Tom's worried voice call for her. Tom was crouching down by the bed, hands on the side of Hal's shoulders, lowering him down on his side. From the way Hal's head hung limp, she knew he had fallen unconscious.

The doctor quickly rushed over to Hal's side, pushing Ben and Matt out of the way. Tom lowered Hal down onto his side and moved to let Anne take his place.

"Hal?" Anne called out, gently shaking his shoulder. Hal let out a moan, but kept his eyes closed. The doctor let out a sigh and moved her hand off his shoulder. The young man was clearly exhausted and had been through a lot in the past few days. He deserved some actual rest.

"Let him sleep." Anne told the others, moving to stand up straight.

"You sure? What about his concussion?" Tom questioned, tone full of concerned. The relief that had filled him when he found his son started to disappear when he saw how injured Hal was.

"It doesn't look that bad. I'll check on him again in a few hours, and someone should probably stay to keep an eye on him, but I think he just needs rest right now." Anne informed everyone as Tom lifted Hal's legs onto the bed.

"I'll stay with him." Tom immediately volunteered, and was about to move to his son's side when Anne pressed her hand against his chest, stopping him.

"No, Tom. You've barely gotten any sleep in the last few days, maybe even less than Hal has. You, go get some sleep." Anne objected. She knew Tom was still worried, he needed rest just as much as his son did.

"I can watch him." Ben offered. Everyone turned to look at him, a little surprised that Ben wanted to. While they all knew he loved his brothers, he was not usually the one who sat beside someone's bedside. He was the kind of person who always had to be doing something instead of sitting around waiting.

"You all need to get some sleep, because of my spikes I don't." Ben explained when he saw the confused and stunned looks on everyone's faces. Anne nodded, agreeing to Ben's idea. Tom definitely needed some sleep, as did she. She wasn't sure about Matt or Anthony, but them getting some rest wasn't a bad idea either. And Maggie could stay up and help him if something went wrong.

"Come get us it there's any change." Anne told Ben as she passed him on her to the door. Ben nodded and moved towards his brother's side while everyone else headed the opposite direction to the door.

Once they all made their way out of the room, Tom quickly ushered Matt into the bedroom beside Hal's while Anne and Anthony went downstairs and Maggie decided to do a quick patrol around the area for any aliens or other kind of threats. As soon as Matt had crawled into bed, Tom shut the door and went downstairs, finding his wife and Anthony in the kitchen.

"So, what now?" Anthony asked, looking up at the 2nd Mass leader, but not actually making eye contact. Tom stared at him, not really sure what to say. Despite knowing that Anthony's help might have been the one thing they needed to rescue Hal, he still didn't trust him.

"Do you want to come back with us?" Anne inquired when Tom didn't say anything, looking either lost in thought, or too exhausted to think. She was serious when she told him he needed to sleep. Her husband looked like any and all energy had left him.

"Yes, I do." Anthony answered, turning his attention to her when she spoke.

"I'm grateful that you helped us rescue my son, but I still don't trust you." Tom said bluntly. After practically no sleep for almost 5 days, he was finally feeling the exhaustion that the fear and adrenaline had been blinding him from. He no longer had any patience for dealing with this tactfully.

"I don't blame you, any of you." Anthony replied, looking down at his feet.

"There are going to be some conditions. Do you promise to follow them, and do whatever you are told to do?" Anne questioned, her expression making it clear that if he wanted to come back that there would be no debate on whatever rules that she and Tom set in place.

"Yes." Anthony promised, not even caring about how they took his gun away earlier anymore. If they did it again, he'd actually feel grateful for a break from the violence.

"Okay. Then go get some sleep, you need it too." Anthony was stunned that Anne was still being sympathetic and nice to him after everything he had done. Not willing to jinx it, he left the kitchen to find somewhere he could sleep.

The minute after the man left, Tom turned to look at Anne. While he didn't trust Anthony and was sure that nobody else really did, Anne was the person he least expected to offer him the chance to come back with them.

"You're sure about this?" Tom asked. When Anne gave him a confused expression, he added, "About letting Anthony come back with us? After everything he's done?"

"Yes." Anne replied with no real hesitation, "While he did go with Pope, he realized his mistakes and helped Hal, helped us get him away from the psycho. He wants to make it right. We should give him a chance to do that."

"And what if he gets angry and goes off the rails again? Last time, he led you to Pope so he could kill you. He helped Pope kidnap Hal." Tom reminded her.

"We'll keep an eye on him, but I don't think he will. Anthony and Pope are not the same. Anthony is sorry, he wants to fix his mistakes. Pope didn't. If we leave Anthony behind, what does that say about us?" Anne questioned, staring at her husband. Slowly, Tom lowered his head and nodded.

"You're right. But that doesn't mean I trust him, especially not around you or the boys." Tom told her. Anne walked over to him and put her hand on his arm.

"I know. Come on, let's go to bed." Tom didn't have much protests to that as they made their way to the one bedroom that was on the main floor of the house to get some much need sleep.

 **FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

As the time continued to pass, Hal slept peacefully. Ben watched his brother rest in silence. He was the only one that was awake, besides Maggie, who had gone downstairs only minutes after everyone else had left to go get some sleep.

Ben tilted his head as he inspected the bruises on his brother's face. With the sun lighting up the room, they were far more visible, and somehow, seemed to be getting darker. They must've been made just recently if they were getting worse.

The image of Pope punching his big brother, making those bruises, making him bleed, flooded Ben's mind, and he closed his eyes tightly, trying to shake off imagined sight. He hated the idea of Hal, of anyone he cared about getting hurt and the fact that it was done by someone they had all previously trusted for revenge against their Dad, it made Ben's blood boil. As if enough people weren't getting hurt, weren't dying on the battlefield everyday, Pope had to go and do all of this, to _his_ brother, simply for revenge.

"How's he doing?" Maggie asked. Ben looked up in surprise, he didn't hear her come into the room.

"Sleeping soundly." Ben answered, turning back to his brother. Maggie made her way further into the room and saw that sure enough, Hal was still asleep. It didn't surprise her, it had only been an hour since he first fell asleep. He needed a lot more than that.

"Good, he looks exhausted." Maggie said, coming to a stop at the foot of the bed.

"Yeah." Ben agreed, his voice quiet and eyes still on Hal.

Maggie let her eyes stay on the sleeping form. He didn't so much as flinch at the noise, and Hal was usually such a light sleeper. It was something they all ended up with when the war started. They needed to be ready to fight and defend themselves at every moment, even when asleep. The fact that he was so exhausted to end up in such a deep sleep only hinted at what he had all been through.

"Any sign of skitters?" Ben questioned after a few moments, still watching his brother.

"Nope, it's all quiet outside. We're safe, for now at least." Maggie responded. Ben nodded, letting her know he heard her but didn't say anything else. His entire focus was on his brother.

Maggie wanted to pull up a chair and watch over Hal too, but she could tell Ben had it covered. Considering how strained their relationship had been due to everything that had happened, it was probably best to leave them. Maybe this would help fix it. They both loved Hal, and had hurt him so badly, and had no idea how to fix it.

"I'm gonna go downstairs, search the house. There might be some gas here, or food or something else we could use." Maggie told him. She didn't wait for a response as she turned around and walked out of the room. As much as she wanted to be there for Hal, to try and mend their relationship, the relationship between Hal and his brother was more important.

 **AN** – So I ended it with a lot of emphasis on Ben and Hal because I felt that in the show, the problems in their relationship and the hurt and pain that had been caused and felt was kind of forgotten about and not even really mentioned, like a lot of things in the show. Seriously, the show would've benefited a lot more if the seasons were longer, but, I just don't think that the pain and betrayal that Hal would've felt in season 4 would've gone away so easily and I wanted to show more of their mending that bond that they do clearly have. I might also do something about them in my other Falling Skies story, Missing Scenes, who knows. Don't worry, lots of Halgie coming up in the future. See you guys soon!


	7. We Are Scared to Show It

**Disclaimer** – Still own nothing. Please review and

 **Enjoy!**

Ben didn't really notice how fast time was going by, all of his focus was still on his brother. He kept his eyes on Hal's sleeping form and ears on the young man's heartbeat and breathing. Every now and then something would draw his attention away from Hal, a noise from downstairs, most likely made by Maggie, the shadow of something passing by the window. After quickly assessing they weren't anything threatening, his attention was back on his brother.

Hal continued sleeping peacefully. Nothing seemed to disturb him at all, which Ben was grateful for, though there was a small part of him that was a little worried. He wondered if he should wake him up, just to make sure he was okay, that he wasn't slipping into a coma or anything. Then he remembered what he overheard Anthony tell Anne, that his brother hadn't gotten any real sleep since Pope took him. So Ben ultimately let Hal sleep.

After a little while, Ben noticed some new dark marks on his brother's face. They were subtle enough that he didn't notice them when they first started to appear, but when they did, he bent his head down lower, trying to get a better look at them.

There were now small, dark, purple marks on Hal's jawline, four to be exact, and they were all a somewhat even amount of space away from each other. It took only a few seconds for Ben to think of something that could've caused them. The teenager slowly lifted his hand, letting his four fingers hover just above the bruises. They were a little bigger then his fingers, but he knew they came from someone's fingers, and he had a pretty good idea whose they belonged to.

As Ben started to pull his hand away, he noticed even more bruises, this time on Hal's neck. They weren't as dark as the ones on his brother's face, but they were still noticeable. Ben let out an angry sigh as he sat back up against the chair he had dragged from the desk on the other side of the room to the bedside.

So many bruises, so many cuts littered his brother's body. Hal had only been kidnapped for four to five days and he looked so terrible. Ben didn't want to think of what Hal would've looked like by the time Pope decided to bring an end to his plan. Would he have gone so far as to beat his brother to death?

And that was only the physical damage. What are the odds that there had been mental or emotional damage done too? If there was, Ben knew that no one besides Hal would know about it, because there was no way Hal would talk about it. He would just tell everyone he was okay and to forget about it, and mental and emotional damage wasn't visible like physical damage was. What would his brother look like if it was as easy to see as the bruises on his face? A sudden afterthought came into Ben's mind when he wondered about that, and it made him sick. What would Hal have looked like every time he had walked in on him kissing Maggie?

All of Ben's thoughts and ponderings suddenly vanished when he heard a low moan. His attention snapped back to his sleeping brother who was starting to move under the blanket he had placed over top of him a few hours ago when he saw him shivering slightly. Hal's face started to scrunch up as he turned his head to the side.

"Hal?" Ben called out, placing his hand on his brother's shoulder. Hal suddenly pulled his arm away as a fearful expression came upon his face, though his eyes never opened.

"Hal, come on, wake up." Ben pleaded, putting his hand back on Hal's shoulder and started shaking him. Hal however, remained fast asleep as the nightmare continued.

 **FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

 _Hal's head snapped to the right as Pope's fist slammed against his cheek, blood running down his face. Slowly, Hal turned his head back to look at the older man who was now on his knees beside him. Pope reached up and grabbed a handful of Hal's hair, forcing him to lift his head._

 _"_ _I told you your death won't be quick." Pope reminded him, grinning like a madman. It was then Hal saw the switchblade Pope was twirling in his hand. Once he knew that Hal had seen it, he stopped twirling the knife and started moving it closer to Hal's now exposed neck._

 _Hal tried to jerk his head free, but Pope's grip was too tight. He tried to move his arms, but couldn't due to the handcuffs and chain link restraining him to the wooden post. He tried to speak, but no words made it past the duct tape across his mouth._

 _As Pope brought the knife closer, Hal's breathing quickened and despite his attempts to hide it, the criminal saw his fear clearly, and his sick grin grew wider. Once the sharp edge reached Hal's neck, Pope pushed harder, forcing the knife into his skin and Hal screamed._

"Hal! Wake up!" Hal gasped as his eyes flew open, seeing Ben's concerned face right in his line of vision. Then he became aware of a hand on his shoulder, his brother's hand.

"It's okay. You're okay, you're safe." Ben whispered, trying to sound reassuring. He was never really good at comforting people, especially not his stubborn older brother, but he could tell that right now, that's what Hal needed.

For a moment, Hal didn't say anything. He stared at Ben, then looked around the room as the memories of what happened last night and early this morning started coming back. He wasn't in the basement, he was in an abandoned house with his family. He was safe, and Pope was dead. Slowly, he sat up on the bed.

"How long was I asleep?" Hal asked, moving his hand to rub his temples. He had hoped that after finally getting some sleep, the consistent headache would ease up, but no such luck.

"About, seven hours." Ben said, looking down at his watch, then back up at his brother. Hal almost scoffed. Figures, the chance when he'd finally get to sleep he's be forced awake by nightmares.

"You okay?" Ben wondered when he saw the position his older brother was now in. Hal immediately lowered his hand and nodded.

"Yeah, just a headache." Hal answered, regretting that he had moved his head in the first place. The throbbing seemed to have intensified when he nodded.

"Is everything okay?" The two older Masons turned their attention to the door when they heard their little brother's voice.

Sure enough, Matt was standing in the doorway, hand raised like he was going to knock but decided against it. His eyes kept moving from Ben to Hal before ultimately settling on his oldest brother, worry written clear on his face.

"Everything's fine Matt." Hal replied with a smile. Matt didn't smile back. Instead, he turned to look at Ben, as though waiting to see if the middle brother would tell him the same thing. If there was one thing Matt had learned over the past few years since the war started, it was how much Hal lied when it came to his well-being.

Ben simply nodded, letting his younger brother know that everything was indeed fine, at least for now. Considering what they could only imagine Hal had been through the last few days, nightmares were to be expected. And given the fact he had a concussion, it was completely normal for Hal to have a headache. There was no need for his little brother to worry about that.

When he saw the blonde nod, Matt sighed with relief before making his way to his brothers. He climbed on top of the bed on Hal's other side and moved to sit right beside the black-haired man.

"What are you doing up?" Hal asked with a smile as he threw his arm around Matt's shoulder. It was his injured arm so he did it as lightly as possible, not wanting to put any pressure on the cut.

"I heard someone scream. Just wanted to make sure everything was okay." Matt explained. Hal ducked his head in embarrassment. It was already bad enough that Ben had witnessed him having a nightmare, but now Matt had heard it too? _Great, just great_ , Hal thought to himself.

"Oh, you're up." All three Mason brothers turned to look back at the door to see Maggie standing there, watching them.

"Sleep okay?" Maggie asked like she actually wanted an answer, but Hal could tell from the look in her eyes that she had heard him scream too.

"Yeah, I slept just fine. Would've liked to sleep longer though." Hal answered despite knowing that everyone in the room knew it was a lie. At least, part of it was. He was still feeling pretty tired, though not as bad as earlier.

"You can go back to sleep soon, just as soon Anne checks you again for any serious head injury." Maggie told him, walking over to the foot of the bed.

"She already did that last night." Hal remembered. Falling asleep while she did it probably wasn't a good way to convince that he was fine though.

"Yeah, but sometimes it takes longer for signs of head injuries to show. I'll go wake her up." The female soldier turned to walk back out of the room, but stopped when Hal called out to her.

"If she's asleep, just leave her. I'm fine." Hal insisted, not wanting to disturb his stepmother.

"She told us to get her when you woke up." Maggie replied, continuing her way out of the room and down the stairs.

Hal sighed and leaned back down against the pillows. He had hoped that when he woke up, everyone would have calmed down a little, that they wouldn't still be so worried and wouldn't fuss over him, but apparently, he was wrong. Only a few minutes later, he heard three pairs of feet making their way up the steps, followed by his Dad, Anne, and Maggie entering the room.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Tom instantly asked as he made his way over to the side of the bed. Ben stood up and pushed his chair back to give his Dad some room.

"I'm fine. Still a little tired though." Hal replied as Tom sat down on the side of the bed beside him.

"Yeah, you'll feel that way for a while." Anne informed him, coming over to the other side of the bed as Matt backed away to let the doctor examine his brother again.

Anne pulled out her penlight and turned it on. Quickly instructing Hal to follow the light with his eyes so she could check his concussion, the doctor slowly moved the light from one side to the other, then up and down.

"Well, your concussion doesn't seem to be that bad. How does your head feel?" Anne asked, turning the penlight off and putting it back in her pocket.

"Hurts a little, but not too bad." Hal assured her. He could see the still worried look on his Dad's face, he didn't need to know how bad his head was actually throbbing.

"Well, you still need some more rest. But before you go back to sleep, you want something to eat?" Anne questioned, her lips rising in a slightly sly smile. Hal immediately nodded, suddenly becoming aware of how empty is stomach was.

"I'll go get you something from the kitchen." Maggie spoke up when she heard Anne say that. With that, she turned and walked out of the room.

"Why don't you two go get something to eat too." Tom suggested, looking at his other two sons.

They both looked at each, then at Hal before they nodded, agreeing to do what their father wanted. Neither of them had eaten much when they learned their brother had been kidnapped, they were to busy looking for him and their Dad, not that they had much of an appetite anyways. So, Ben went over to Matt and gently ushered him out of the room.

"Are you sure you're feeling alright?" Tom questioned once they were gone. Hal had a bad habit of insisting he was okay when he wasn't. Normally, he made the mistake of believing his oldest and letting it go instead of getting him to open up. He wasn't going to let Hal blow him off that easily.

"I'm alright, I promise." Hal reassured his Dad. After all, it was the truth, if you didn't count his major headache, the slight dizziness, and the fact he was still cold even in an actual room, with a blanket and the sun shining on him. He was fine.

Luckily, his Dad was stopped from saying anything else when Maggie came back into the room with a plate of food. When she handed him the plate, it took every bit of control to not stuff the food down his throat.

He remembered how when he woke up after passing out from starvation Anne warned him not to eat too much too fast, otherwise he'd throw up. If he did that, he'd only make everyone more worried. Plus, if he scarfed it all down, his Dad would feel even more guilty about what happened and he didn't want that.

Once Hal finished, his Dad took the plate away as he felt his eyelids start to close and he laid down against the pillows.

"Don't worry Hal. You can go back to sleep." Anne told him. Hal didn't need to be told twice.

 **FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Two hours later, Maggie walked up the stairs towards the bedroom where Hal was currently sleeping. He had practically passed out when he finished eating, but Anne said that it was okay. Given how little sleep he had and all the stress and tension, he was going to need a lot of rest. They had left him to sleep peacefully, but after a few hours, Maggie decided to check on him, and make sure he had some more water if he was still awake.

As she entered the room, she saw Hal lying down on his side. At first, she thought he was still asleep and was planning on just leaving the water bottle in her hand on the bedside table for when he did wake up, but then she saw him move. The minute Hal laid his eyes on her, he sat up a little on his elbows.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Maggie asked as she came over to his side, the plastic water bottle in her hand.

"I'm fine. What's going on downstairs?" Hal asked he fully sat up, closing his eyes when the world started spinning around him. He lowered his head for a minute, not wanting Maggie to worry, before he tried opening his eyes again. When everything was normal again, he raised his head to look at her.

"Oh, just trying to find out where we can get some more gas so we can head out. Here, Anne wants you to finish this, but slowly, so you don't get sick." Maggie informed the young man, holding out the bottle.

"I swear I never drank this much water in such a small amount of time in my life." Hal responded, accepting the offered drink.

"I thought you were the athlete of your family." Maggie told him, watching as he drank from the bottle.

"I was, but still." Hal said, taking another few gulps.

"Well, you need the fluids." Maggie reminded him. Hal looked up at her and saw a weird expression on her face, almost like a mix of worry and guilt.

"Is everything okay?" Hal asked, putting the cap back on the bottle. Originally, when he had woken up and saw her enter the room and heard her ask how he was, he had to fight off the urge to roll his eyes and snap. He was getting so annoyed with everyone pitying him, but when he saw the look in her eyes, he couldn't help but be more concerned that something else was going on.

"Everything's fine." Maggie immediately replied, almost defensively. She then reached over and grabbed the bottle since she saw that he was done with it.

"You have all been acting weird around me. It's annoying. I'm fine, okay?" Hal repeated again. He was getting tired of constantly trying to convince anyone that he was okay. No one seemed to believe him, even when Anne agreed that he was fine.

"You were kidnapped Hal, and I guess, we all just, feel guilty that it happened. We were really worried about you." Maggie replied in a gentler tone, putting the water bottle down on the night stand. She knew that he was getting frustrated with how they were acting around him. He never responded very well to what he deemed as pity, just like her, and she knew that he was seeing their worry as just that.

"But I'm fine. And you guys have nothing to feel guilty about. None of what happened was your fault. It was all Pope." Hal explained. He knew that his Dad would be blaming himself for what happened, since Pope kidnapped him, tortured him, and was planning to kill him for revenge against his father, but Hal couldn't think of a reason why everyone else would blame themselves for what happened.

"And Anthony." The blonde added bitterly, still avoiding his gaze.

"He wasn't the one who kidnapped me, or beat me up." Hal told her, sitting up straighter on the bed. He regretted it when the world around him started to spin a little once again, and he put his good hand on the bedside table subtly to hold himself steady. If he collapsed, it would only freak out Maggie more than she already was.

"Maybe not, but he let it happen." Maggie reminded him, looking down at the floor.

"He did what he could. He helped you guys find me, and helped us escape, remember?" Hal said, trying not to let the frustration he was feeling show in his voice. He was getting tired of this argument that he never meant to get into, and wished he hadn't. It was making the throbbing in his head intensify.

"He could've helped you a lot sooner." Maggie claimed as she turned to head to the door. Hal sighed as he moved to stand up.

"Maggie," Hal called out, standing up on his feet. Unfortunately, the dizziness got worse as black spots started to dance in his eyes and his legs buckled under him, causing him to fall to his knees on the floor.

He threw out his left arm to try and catch himself, but when his arm hit the edge of the bed, he let out a gasp at the sudden pressure on the gash in his arm. It hurt a lot more than it did over the last few days. When did that happen?

"Woah, Hal. Easy, easy. You okay? What happened?" Maggie asked as she rushed to his side, throwing her arm around him as Hal put a hand on her shoulder.

"Just a little dizzy, and a little headache. I'm fine." Hal insisted as he let Maggie help sit back on the bed. Though he was now still, the dizziness didn't let up. He was positive that if Maggie wasn't keeping her arm around him, he would've fallen over.

Once Maggie helped him sit on the bed, she lifted her left hand and placed it on Hal's forehead. When she had put her arm around him, she could feel his sweat through his shirt. His skin was hot to the touch.

"No, you're not. Hal, you're burning up. How long have you been feeling like this?" Maggie asked, her concern evident in her voice. The young man was leaning heavily against her and his face had somehow gotten even more pale than it was before when they first rescued him.

"I don't know. Just thought it was the concussion." Hal mumbled, his head starting to fall forward. Maggie laid him down on his side on the bed.

"Just lie down. I'm going to go get Anne. Just lie still, and I'll be right back." Without waiting for a response, she disappeared from his line of sight.

Hal slowly turned a little so he was lying on his back and stared at the ceiling. With the world still spinning, the ceiling seemed to be the only thing that stayed still so he focused his attention on that. He dimly heard the sound of loud thumps coming closer towards him, but he could tell they were moving fast.

Suddenly, his Dad's face appeared on his right side, quickly followed by Anne's on his left. Hal saw his Dad's lips move, but couldn't hear what he was saying. The black dots continued growing until he saw nothing, and everything seemed to disappear.

 **AN** -Told you guys that Hal wasn't out of the woods yet, but, what is wrong with him? Sorry, you will have to wait till next chapter, which hopefully should be up in a week. No promises though as I recently started another story, and might be getting a second job. I promise though, I will update as soon as I can. See you all later!


	8. We Can Be Hurt

**Disclaimer** – Sorry to say, nothing has changed. I still don't own anything, sorry.

 **AN** – So this chapter is a little bit of a filler, but it does explain a lot of what's going on. Thank you to scienceficfan24 for your review! I hope you, and everyone else likes the chapter! This chapter has a little bit of Hal and Matt, and some worried Tom. Please review and

 **Enjoy!**

Anne unwrapped the bandage on Hal's arm in silence, though she knew Ben, Matt, Maggie, and Anthony were all in the room, standing by the door. Tom was kneeling down beside the bed on Hal's other side, watching worriedly.

When Maggie came running downstairs, saying that Hal had a fever, they all rushed upstairs to check on him. Anne quickly pushed them back though, telling them that she needed space and silence. So far, they listened to her. And Hal, passing out almost as soon as they all got into the room, didn't make any sound or movement either.

As soon as Anne took the wrapping off, she saw the line of yellow on the gauze pad that she had put on the cut. Slowly, she pulled it away, exposing the small amount of pus that was leaking through the stitches and the inflamed skin around the injury. She cursed quietly at the sight. When she looked up, she saw Tom staring at her worriedly, having heard her. Without a word, Anne lifted up Hal's arm to let him see the injury.

Her husband turned his gaze back to his son, looking even more worried and dejected than he did only seconds earlier. Anne lowered Hal's arm and grabbed his wrist, pressing her fingers against his vein to feel his pulse. After a minute, she moved her hand and laid it on Hal's forehead, checking his temperature again. When she was done that, she stood up from her spot on the bed and went over to the people who stood waiting. Tom followed behind her.

"Well, how is he?" Maggie questioned once they reached them.

"The cut on his arm is infected. That's what's causing the fever." Anne informed the small group as professionally as possible.

"But you checked that. You said it was fine." Matt remembered. He had been so worried about his brother, but he felt better when Anne had assured them all that he was okay. But now, he wasn't? When did that happen?

"I did, but the wound had already closed a bit. It must've closed over the infection." Anne explained.

"What caused it? And how did it come on so suddenly?" Maggie asked.

"I cleaned as best I could with what I had." Anthony said quietly. Anne gave him a sympathetic smile when she saw the guilty look on his face before answering.

"Honestly, anything could've caused it. It could've been from the knife Pope used, any dirt or bacteria that could've got into bandages. And given the conditions he was kept in, a dark, damp cellar is a prime spot for bacteria and mold, and little to no food or water would've weakened his immune system a lot. It was probably building up for a while but we didn't start seeing any real signs until now." The doctor explained.

"But you gave him antibiotics. Shouldn't that have prevented this?" Matt wondered, trying to understand how his brother could now be sick when he should've been fine.

"The infection was already too far along for only one shot to do anything Matt." Anne told him, completely understanding how he was feeling. None of them, not even her, saw this coming.

"So, what do we do?" Tom asked.

"We need to get him to Fayetteville. I only have the basic antibiotics with me, which might not do much, especially without knowing what exactly is causing the infection." Anne replied.

"All right." The former President agreed.

"But we still don't have enough gas to get all the way back. And Hal won't be able to walk the rest of the way." Maggie reminded everyone.

"The best thing for Hal right now, is to get him to the 2nd Mass as fast as possible so we can figure out how to help him. If we don't, the infection is only going to get worse and worse until he becomes septic." Anne revealed.

"What's septic mean?" Matt questioned. Looking at all the confused and worried expressions on everyone else's faces, Anne realized they didn't know what sepsis was either.

"Let's just pray he doesn't get to that point." Anne decided to not scare them with the truth of what that could happen if she didn't have too, though from the looks on their faces, it didn't work that well.

"Alright, Maggie, Anthony, you two and I will head out to try and find more gas for the truck. Matt and Ben, you two stay with Anne and Hal." Tom decided. Though Maggie looked like she wanted to argue, she nodded reluctantly and followed Anthony out of the room. Ben and Matt headed over to their brother who was still asleep and Tom turned to Anne.

"We'll be back before dark." Tom told his wife. Anne nodded and watched as the father went over to his son's side. He bent down and pressed a quick peck on Hal's forehead before coming back over to where Anne stood.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of him." Anne assured him, placing her hand on his shoulder.

"I know. We'll be back soon." Tom replied, then walked out of the room while Anne went back over to Hal to rebandage his arm.

 **FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

As Hal slowly came to, he felt someone holding his hand. He knew it was Matt because the hand wasn't wearing gloves, was smaller than everyone else's, and had very few callouses. Only his baby brother fit that bill.

"Hal?" When Hal heard Matt's voice, he forced his eyes open. His little brother was sitting on a chair beside him, just as he had predicated.

"Hey bud." Hal said, his voice little more than a croak. Why was his throat so dry? He had been drinking water almost constantly ever since he had been rescued, it shouldn't be so dry.

"How you feeling?" Matt asked with concern. Hal put on a smile so that his little brother wouldn't be so worried anymore.

"I'm alright." Hal assured him, expecting the worried look to leave Matt's face, but it didn't. If anything, it got worse.

"No you're not. You're sick Hal." Matt revealed. Hal stared at him in shock. When did he get sick? The last thing he remembered was talking to Maggie, he didn't remember feeling sick besides his head hurting.

"What do you mean?" Hal asked as he pushed himself up on his good arm, completely confused and a little worried himself. Matt opened his mouth to answer, but another voice beat him to it.

"He means, the cut on your arm is infected. You actually passed out." Hal turned his head to see Anne coming into the room, her med bag hanging over her shoulder. Ben was right behind her. He got even more confused as his stepmother's words sunk in. When they first got here, Anne had checked him and said he was fine. How was he suddenly sick?

"But you said-" Hal started, only for Anne to interrupt.

"I know, but since the laceration had already started to heal, it covered the infection. It wasn't visible. And any symptoms you were showing happened to be identical to the symptoms you'd have with your other injuries and conditions. You know, your concussion, lack of nutrition, exhaustion. Sorry I didn't catch it sooner." Anne apologized, looking genuinely guilty.

"It's not your fault." Hal told her as she came over to his side while Ben stayed by the door. Anne put the bag on the end of the bed before she approached him.

"You know, we might've caught it sooner if you had been honest with me about how you were feeling." Anne said pointedly, giving him a look that he knew all too well. His Mom had given him that look at lot when he was growing up.

"Like you said, I thought it was because of the concussion." Hal replied defensively. Anne nodded, completely understanding how Hal could've misread the symptoms. After all, she just admitted that she did too.

"Still, I want you to be honest with me. No more Mr. Tough Guy, alright?" Anne told him and Hal nodded. As much as he hated admitting that he wasn't okay, he knew he had worried his family enough already. If being honest with Anne would help him get better and would make his family not be so worried, then he would do it.

"Good. Now, how are you feeling right now?" The doctor inquired, opening up her medical bag.

"My throat's a little dry. And it's hot in here." Hal admitted. Anne stop what she was doing and placed the back of her hand against his forehead.

"Yeah, you've got a pretty nice little fever. I'll see if I can find you some Tylenol. Ben, why don't you get him some water." Anne said as she started searching her bag for the thermometer. Ben immediately turned and left the room.

A part of him wanted to stay and make sure his older brother was okay, but with Hal already agreeing to be honest about how he was feeling, though he knew _that_ wouldn't last long, and with Anne and Matt watching him, he would be okay. At least for the few minutes he would be gone.

"How long was I out?" Hal asked when Ben left the room.

"About 4 hours. You passed out not long after we came in to check on you after Maggie told us you had a fever." Anne informed him, finally finding the small device.

"Where's Dad?" Hal wondered. It wasn't until Anne said anything that he remembered that while he was talking to Maggie, he collapsed and she ran to get help. The last thing he remembered seeing was his Dad and Anne leaning over him.

"He, Maggie, and Anthony went to search for more gas, so we can get you back to the 2nd Mass. I can take care of you better there. Don't worry, they'll be back soon." Anne told him, placing the end of the thermometer on the back of Hal's ear. Within a minute, the device beeped and Anne pulled it away to get a look at the reading while Ben came back into the room, a plastic water bottle in his hand.

"Here you go Hal." Ben said, offering the bottle to his older brother, taking the cap off for him since he knew with Hal's injured arm he wouldn't be able to.

"Thanks." Hal said sheepishly. He wasn't really happy that he actually needed his younger brother's help taking a lid off a plastic bottle, it was embarrassing. At least Ben had figured it out that he would need help before he had to ask. That made it slightly better.

After he downed a few gulps of the lukewarm water, he turned his head and saw that Anne was holding a syringe that was already filled some sort of liquid.

"What's that?" Hal asked, putting the bottle on the bedside table.

"Another antibiotic. It should help stop the infection." Anne told him. She had been giving him the antibiotics in her bag routinely over the last few hours, but since he was asleep the entire time, he didn't know about it.

Hal sat still when he saw her move the needle towards him and stuck it into his left shoulder before pushing the plunger down. When she pulled the syringe away, Hal laid back down on the bed as he felt his exhaustion start coming back. He barely even moved, wasn't even awake for more than twenty minutes and had been sleeping almost nonstop, how was he still so tired?

"How are you feeling now?" Anne questioned, seeing the young man fall back down on the bed.

"Still pretty tired." Hal answered honestly.

"Yeah, being sick will do that to you. Do you think you can stay awake long enough for us to get some food in you?" Anne wondered. She knew that he had eaten a pretty decent amount early in the afternoon, and with his infection, he might not have much of an appetite, but he had gone over four days without food and needed it to get his strength back up. Though a little sluggishly, Hal nodded.

"Okay, I'll be right back. You boys, make sure he stays awake." Anne told her other two stepsons and left the room.

Ben looked over at his older brother who was now looking over at them. He had no idea what to do or what to say. He really wasn't good at bedside manners, so he quickly came up with an excuse to leave.

"I'm just gonna go give her a hand." Ben was gone before Hal could even blink. Honestly, he wasn't surprised that his brother left the room. After all, sitting at someone's bedside while they were sick or injured and offering comfort really wasn't Ben's strong suit. So, Hal turned his attention to his youngest brother.

"Hey, don't worry buddy. I'm gonna be just fine." Hal assured Matt when he saw the worried look on his little brother's face.

"I know." Matt said, but looked like he was very unsure about that answer. Hal quickly decided that a change of topic was needed.

"You know, you guys never did tell me about how the trip from Chinatown to Fayetteville went. You guys didn't get attacked by skitters, did you?" Hal asked with a grin, hoping that Matt would have some crazy story to tell that would distract him.

"No, but we did get shot at by a man. He took Weaver hostage." Matt replied, a smile slowly growing on his face.

"How did that happen?" Hal asked, pushing himself up a little so he was less likely to fall asleep. Matt immediately dived into an explanation of what happened as Hal listened intently.

 **FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Entering the kitchen, Anne saw the pile of food that Maggie had found in the house last night. While she didn't find any gas, the soldier found lots of canned food, power bars and plastic water bottles that hadn't been opened. It looked like the person living here might have been getting ready to go on a camping trip or something before the invasion.

"Need any help?" Anne raised her head to see Ben coming into the kitchen, looking a little anxious.

"No. I'm not going to give him much. He may need the nutrients and sugar, but he isn't going to be able to stomach having more than a few bites." Anne informed him, grabbing a power bar that was hidden behind the small cans.

"Is it because of the fever, or because he went almost five days with nothing to eat?" Ben asked.

"Most likely both." Anne replied, then looked up to see the worried and pained expression on the teenager's face.

"Ben, I promise I'm going to do everything I can for him." She told her stepson. Ben nodded, but he didn't look reassured whatsoever.

"I know. It's just, he already went through so much, with Pope and everything. I was just hoping that," Ben paused for a moment before deciding what to say. "He just, doesn't deserve this." Anne gave him a sad smile and moved to stand right in front of him, placing both of her hands on his arms.

"I know Ben, I know. But, deserving or not, it's happened, and now we have to deal with it. Why don't you go back up to your brothers? I'll be up in a few minutes." Anne suggested. Again, the blonde nodded and turned to head back upstairs.

The doctor headed back over to the table to grab the food that she had dropped when she went to comfort Ben. As she grabbed the small power bar, she heard the front door swing open. Looking up, she saw Tom, Maggie, and Anthony enter the house.

"You three are back. Did you find enough gas?" Anne questioned as Tom came over to her. Anthony headed into the garage while Maggie immediately climbed the stairs to go check on Hal.

"Not even close. It looks like this area has been picked dry. But Anthony said there was another spot that might have enough. We're going back out in the morning. How's Hal?" Tom asked, placing his gun on the table.

"He's awake. Managed to drink some water, I was just getting some food for him, but he's not doing good Tom." Anne answered with regret. She wished she had better news for him, wished that she could tell him that his son was going to be okay, but she couldn't.

"What do you mean?" Tom asked, fear shining through his brown eyes.

"His fever is getting worse. It's slow, but it's there. And I just used the last antibiotic that I have." Anne confessed.

"But, he should be okay until tomorrow night when we get more gas to make the trip to Fayetteville, right?" Tom questioned, his tone revealing just how desperate and scared he was, and she didn't blame him. Despite every win they got, everything still kept falling apart, and had been since the war started. He had already lost his wife and daughter, now her husband was at risk of losing his oldest son.

"I don't know. With the wound closing over the infection, the bacteria has a perfect place to grow and make the infection worse. He could be stable during that time, or his condition could get way worse in a matter of hours." She revealed, again, wishing that she could tell her husband something different, something good.

For a moment, Tom didn't say anything. Instead, he turned around and took a few steps away from his wife. He knew that she was trying her best, but apparently it wasn't enough. His son was getting worse, his son could die. Running his hand over his face and through his hair, Tom turned back to Anne, coming to stand in front of her once again.

"Isn't there anything else we can do?" Tom asked, hoping there was some way that they could help Hal.

"There is one thing. I just, hoped we wouldn't have to, and I didn't want to mention it with Ben and Matt around." Anne replied very hesitantly.

"What?" Tom dared to ask. The minute Anne had started talking, her face became her a little pale, and for the first time since they learned that Hal was sick, she actually looked somewhat fearful.

"If I can get inside the injury, and clean out the infection, I might be able to stop it. Or, at the very least, slow it down. The problem is, it's already started to heal. That means, in order to do that, I'll have to cut the injury open again." Anne explained. As she spoke, she watched all the blood drain from Tom's face, going whiter than she had ever thought possible. She herself felt sick at the idea of having to cut open the injury, cut Hal, just so she could make an effort to clean it, something that might not even work.

Again, Tom turned away, this time so Anne wouldn't see how panicked he was suddenly getting. He could still hear Hal's screams from when Pope first made the laceration, just as loud and clear as when it happened. It had haunted his dreams when he slept. The idea of having to hear it again, made him sick to his stomach. Were they really that desperate to do such a thing?

"But, aren't the antibiotics working?" Tom wondered, still having his back to Anne.

"Honestly, it doesn't look like it. Depending on the bacteria, it might need a specific type of antibiotic to knock it out, or just a stronger dose, none of which I have here." The doctor informed him. Tom didn't reply to that.

Anne was starting to get worried about the man in front of her. While she knew he wouldn't react well to the idea, she didn't expect him to react like this. There was something that she was missing, something she didn't know. And whatever it was, it was hurting the man she loved more in a way she didn't understand.

"Tom, tell me what you want to do." Anne pleaded as she walked over to him and put her hand on his shoulder, though he still kept his back to her. It took another moment before he responded.

"Okay, we'll do that, but we'll wait until tomorrow. I'm going to go see my son." Tom didn't wait for her to respond. He just started walking towards the staircase.

"Tom." Anne called after him. Tom finally turned around to see Anne stretch out her arm, a power bar in her hand. "Try to get him to eat."

Taking the food from her hand, Tom continued his way up to Hal's room without a word. Anne watched until he disappeared from sight, and was about to head back into the kitchen when she saw Anthony standing all alone in the living room. He was staring back at her, his eyes full of guilt.

"Did you hear all that?" Anne asked, taking a few steps towards him. Even though she had invited Anthony to return to the 2nd Mass with them, and convinced Tom to let him, there was still a part of her that was uneasy whenever he was around, especially now because he had been given a gun while they were out searching for gas.

"Yeah." The former cop replied, looking down at the floor.

"Anthony, there wasn't anything you could've done. You had no idea this would happen." Anne tried to comfort him, but Anthony just shook his head.

"There wasn't any disinfectant. Nothing was sterilized. I, I should've helped him escape sooner." The man said, and even though she didn't have a clear look at his face, Anne could've sworn his eyes were filling with tears.

"Anthony,"

"I'm just, gonna to look around again. Maybe there might be something else here that we could use that Maggie missed." Anthony cut her off, making it clear he didn't want to hear whatever she was about to say. Not wanting to push him, she watched him leave the room in the silence.

 **FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

As Tom reached the door to the bedroom, he heard people speaking quietly. He easily picked up Matt's and Hal's voices, along with Ben's coming in every now and then. Before he opened the door though Tom just stood listening to them, remembering how he would walk into his house after coming home from work to that sound.

After another moment, he pushed the door open and entered the room to see Hal still lying in the bed, Matt in the chair beside him, Ben sitting on the edge of the mattress while Maggie stood on the other side of the bed. When they heard the door open, they all turned to look at him.

"Hey, you're back." Hal said with a small smile. Despite how terrible he looked and how quiet his voice was, Tom found himself smiling in return.

"Yeah. How are you feeling?" Tom asked, coming over to his son's side.

"I've been better. We get enough gas to leave?" Hal wondered, quickly changing the subject. Even though his Dad was smiling, he could see how worried he was.

"Not yet, but we will, don't worry." Tom assured his eldest. Hal nodded weakly as his eyelids started to close. He had been trying to stay awake to talk with his brothers and because Anne had told him too, but he was getting so tired, and he hated it. He was sick of being so exhausted. Then, he heard the sound of a wrapper being ripped open and forced his eyes open again.

"Here, Anne wants you to eat this." Tom told him, handing him a power bar that he had just opened for him. Hal grabbed the food before pushing himself up on his elbow, trying to keep pressure off his bad arm. He managed to take two bites before his stomach churned violently in protest.

"Hal?" Tom called when he saw his son's face turn a sickly shade of green. He pulled the bar out of Hal's hand and gently pushed him back down on the mattress.

"Hey, it's okay. Just lie back down, go to sleep." His Dad told him. Immediately, Hal closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep while Tom draped the blanket back over his son.

"So, what do we do now?" Matt asked once he saw that his big brother was sound asleep.

"We let him sleep. You two should go get some rest too. In the morning, both of you, along with Anthony, are going to go out and see if you can find more gas." Tom replied, looking over at Matt and Ben.

"But-" Matt objected though his Dad immediately cut him off.

"No buts. To be honest, I'm completely exhausted, and so are Anthony and Maggie. Anthony is going to sleep so he'll be ready to go in the morning, and I need one person with spikes to go with him, and the other to stay here. Since you two both got a chance to get some rest today, you two are going. So now, go get some sleep so you'll have enough energy for tomorrow." Tom told his youngest two.

"Yes Dad." Ben agreed, though dejectedly. While he didn't like the idea of leaving his brother anymore than Matt did, he did see his father's point.

He looked over at Matt and saw that he agreed too, but did not look happy about it. The two youngest Masons then stood up and left the room to go get some sleep while Tom continued watching over Hal.

"Tom?" The Mason patriarch looked over his shoulder to see Maggie standing in the doorway. "I can watch him, if you want to get some sleep."

"No, I'm fine." Tom declined. He knew that he really did some sleep, but he just wanted to stay with his son. It felt like every time he left Hal, something seemed to happen to him. He didn't even notice that Maggie had come up behind him until he felt her hand on his shoulder.

"Tom, you've been up for 4 days, and only got 7 hours of sleep. You need more than that. I'll be okay with watching him for the night. Spikes, remember?" Tom didn't look at her, instead, keeping all of his attention on his son, but ultimately nodded.

He knew that she was right, and new that she would come and get him if anything was wrong, just like she did earlier when she noticed Hal had a fever. Slowly, and reluctantly, he stood up headed for the door. Before he walked out though, he turned around to see that Maggie had taken his spot in the chair beside his son. He waited until he was sure that his son was well taken care over, then left the room.

For the first few minutes, Maggie sat in silence, just watching the young man sleep. As far as she could tell, he was sleeping peacefully. His face was relaxed and he wasn't tossing and turning or anything, which was good. She placed her hand on Hal's forehead and winced when she felt how hot it was.

Looking around the room, she saw there was a water bottle on the bedside table and a bathroom attached to the bedroom. Maggie stood up and went over to the bathroom to find a cloth. Quickly grabbing one that was hanging over the sink, she went back over to chair and got the towel wet with the water in the plastic bottle and placed it over Hal's forehead in an effort to cool him down.

"Oh Hal Mason, you certainly have a knack for getting into trouble." Maggie stated, pushing his hair away from his face before leaning her head down to his.

"But don't worry. You're going to be okay. I promise." Maggie whispered into his ear, then pressed a small kiss on his cheek. Hal however, remained oblivious to the promise and the sign of affection. Maggie sat back up in the chair and watched fervently over the young man as he slept on.

 **AN** – Yeah, like I said before, this chapter is a little bit of a filler but warning you guys, more Hal whump coming next chapter, as well as some Halgie, some paternal Tom, and protective Ben coming up next chapter. It should be up within the week, as usual. See you all soon!


	9. We Have Something to Fear

**Disclaimer** – Own nothing, which really shouldn't surprise anyone.

 **AN** – First off, I'd like to thank Lulu and LacyBlake for your reviews! I'm glad you are both liking the story and hope it the rest does not disappoint. Second, is a warning, this chapter does have a lot more Hal whump, but does include angry/protective Ben, guilty Tom, and lovely Halgie. Thirdly, I'm sorry this update was a little late. I got a little distracted by hanging out with my family since my sister came home for a visit, writing a chapter for a different story, getting into a different show and going away for the weekend. I'm so sorry, I will try my hardest to stay on schedule, but I can't promise anything. Now, back to the story. Please review and

 **Enjoy!**

Maggie sat in silence as she watched Hal sleep. She had been watching him for hours, it was well past midnight now, only a few hours left until sunrise. While she knew that Hal needed rest, given the fact that had gotten barely any in the last few days and was now sick, she wished he would wake up, wished he could assure her that he was going to be okay even if it was a lie.

As she looked the young man over, she noticed that the washcloth that was laying on top of Hal's forehead was starting to dry again. Over the last few hours, she had been making sure that the cloth had been as cold as possible to help his fever but it didn't seem to be doing much. Maggie pulled the small towel off of Hal's brow and was about to grab the bottle of water to wet it again when she saw the dark-haired man slowly moved his head.

Maggie stilled in her movements and waited to see what Hal was going to do, waited to see if he was waking up. After a few seconds, Hal's eyelids slowly opened, not very much, but enough that she could see his brown eyes staring at her and she smiled.

"Hey." Hal whispered, his eyes still only half-way opened.

"Hey. How are you feeling?" Maggie asked, her voice just as quiet.

"Head hurts a little, and it's starting to get really hot in here." Hal replied, turning his head back and forth slowly and started to fidget uncomfortably.

"It's because of the fever. Trust me, it's not that hot." Maggie told him, placing her hand on his head, her thumb rubbing his forehead. Hal immediately stopped moving and closed his eyes, enjoying how cool the woman's hand felt against his too hot skin, but when he forced his eyelids open again, he saw the scared look in her beautiful brown eyes while her expression remained impassive.

"You look really worried." Hal commented, his voice slightly stronger but he still sounded very weak. Maggie slowly pulled her hand away from Hal, feeling very uncomfortable that even though he was sick, he still managed to see right through her. She might not have been doing a good job of hiding it either though.

"I am." Maggie answered honestly. After everything that they had been through, after everything that had happened, lying didn't seem to be worth it, not that he would've believed her anyways. She grabbed the small washcloth from where she had placed it, got it wet with water from the plastic bottle and laid it over the young man's forehead again.

"Don't be. No matter what happens, it's okay. It's okay." Hal's voice was quiet again as his eyes slipped shut. This time though, they didn't open again. He had fallen back asleep.

Maggie lowered her head and squeezed his hand tightly. Despite that only minutes earlier she had been wishing for Hal to wake up and assure her that everything was going to be okay, that wasn't what she truly wanted. She wanted him to assure her that _he_ would be okay, not that it would be okay if he wasn't. If he wasn't okay, neither would she, nor his family,

"No, it's not." Maggie whispered to the now unconscious form on the bed in front of her as she continued her watch.

 **FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

It was another hour before the sun started to rise. As the time continued to pass, Hal continued to sleep while she continued to try and keep his fever down. It was around, 7 o'clock in the morning, she guessed when she heard footsteps coming into the room.

"Hey." Maggie said when she looked over her shoulder and saw Tom entering the bedroom.

"Hey, how's he doing?" Tom asked, coming over to stand somewhat between the bed and the chair Maggie was sitting in.

"Not great. He did wake up last night, but fell back asleep only minutes later." The blonde-haired woman replied, sitting back in the chair.

"Well, if all goes right, we should be heading back to the 2nd Mass tonight. Once we're there, Anne will help him get better." Tom said confidently, placing a hand on Hal's knee.

" _If_ all goes right." Maggie muttered under her breath. There had been too many 'ifs'. She was sick of that word. For once, she wanted a concrete answer, a concrete result.

"What is it?" Tom asked, having heard her despite how quiet her voice was.

"Nothing." Maggie said, but when she saw the look in the father's eyes, she continued, "His temperature is still rising. And he seemed a little out of it when he was awake. He's getting worse."

Tom stood there silently, absorbing the new information that Maggie had given him. He looked back over at his son, seeing the beads of sweat running down Hal's face and neck.

"Why don't you go get something to eat, I'll watch him." Tom told the blonde. Maggie seemed a little hesitant, but she gave no protest as she stood up and left the room. When she was gone, Tom sat down in the chair that she had just vacated and watched his son as he continued to sleep.

The Mason father wasn't left alone with his oldest son for long before Ben appeared in the doorway, though he didn't see or hear him. All of his focus was on Hal.

"Morning." Ben said quietly so not to startle his Dad. The former President turned his head to look over his shoulder and saw him standing there.

"Morning." Tom replied before turning his gaze back to Hal.

"How is he?" The teenager asked as he walked towards the foot of the bed, also keeping his gaze on his brother.

"He woke up last night, but not for long, and his fever's getting worse." Tom answered honestly, it was pointless to lie to Ben anyways. The blonde knew him too well for that.

"Doesn't Anne have any more antibiotics to give him?" Ben questioned.

"No, she ran out. But don't worry, she said that she might be able to clean the infection out of the cut, which should help." Tom informed his middle son, making sure his voice was clear of the worry and nervousness and quickly changed the subject, "Are you ready for today?"

"Yup, all ready to go." Ben replied, still keeping his eyes on his older brother.

"Good. Maybe I should go with you." Tom said slowly but Ben immediately shook his head.

"No, you were right. You're exhausted, and you should stay with Hal. Anthony, Matt, and I can do this." Ben assured him.

He knew his Dad was exhausted and should stay here to get some rest, but he also knew there was something else going on. His Dad made it clear that he and Matt had to leave, and while he wanted to know why, he knew his Dad wasn't going to tell him. But whatever the reason was, he knew his Dad should be with Hal. Besides, he had his own plan for finding out what was going on.

"Okay. Go get something to eat and pack up. I'll be right down." Tom told the teenager. Reluctantly, Ben nodded and was about to turn around to head downstairs when he caught the nervous and fearful look on his father's face.

"Are you okay?" Ben asked, stopping in his tracks.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just worried." Tom answered. Ben turned back around and walked over to his Dad, putting his hand on his shoulder.

"Hal's tough, he'll be okay." Ben tried to encourage him. The former President nodded and leaned forward in his chair.

"Yeah, I know." The father replied. At first, Ben tried to think of something else to say, but when no words came to mind, he made his way out of the room and headed downstairs.

 **FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

They waited over an hour after Ben, Matt, and Anthony left before the rest of the group headed back upstairs to Hal's room. Maggie went over to set in the chair that was beside Hal's bed while Tom set down on the mattress on his son's other side, Anne right behind him. She set the medical bag that she had brought with her on the foot of the mattress and opened it.

"Tom, I'm going to need you to keep Hal's arm still. This is really going to hurt, but I need him to be still. Maggie, make sure he doesn't see what's going on. If he does, he'll probably just freak out even more." Anne ordered them as she started pulling supplies out of her medical bag.

"Are you guys sure about this?" Maggie couldn't help but wonder. After Ben, Matt, and Anthony left, Tom and Anne fully explained what they needed to do in order to clean out the infection and she felt her insides twist into knots at the thought of cutting Hal's arm open. The feeling intensified when she saw the doctor start to clean the scalpel.

"We don't have any other option." Anne replied looking over at her briefly before turning her attention back to her task.

"What's going on?" Everyone turned back to the man on the bed when they heard his voice. None of them had realized that he had woken up.

"Hal, Anne's going to try and clean out the infection, so you'll get better. It's going to hurt a bit though." Tom explained, though from the somewhat glazed look in his son's eyes, he was pretty sure Hal probably didn't really understand. That's when Maggie grabbed his hand with her left, and placed her right hand on Hal's cheek and gently turned his head to face her, the washcloth falling off of his forehead.

"Hal, look at me." Maggie told him, moving her hand more to the back of his head, "Everything's going to be fine. Just keep looking at me."

Seeing that she had Hal's attention, Maggie glanced up at Anne and nodded, letting her know that she got him. When Anne saw the soldier nod, she started to cut and remove the stitches.

Hal tried to pay attention to what was going on, but it felt like he was hearing their voices underwater. Their words weren't clear. All he knew was that they were going to do something and Maggie didn't want him to see what it was. Then, he felt a pressure on his injured arm and the stitches being pulled out. Instinctively, Hal tried to pull his arm away, but two strong hands pushed down on his shoulder and elbow, forcing it to stay in place.

"Hal please, stay still. I know it hurts, but it will go much faster if you don't move." Hal heard his Dad tell him. He tried his best to stay still, to do what his Dad told him, but the pressure seemed to be increasing which caused Hal to squeeze Maggie's hand tightly in pain. Then, for a moment, it stopped. Hal slowly loosened his hold, only for a sharp pain to explode in his arm.

"AHHHH!" Hal screamed as he tried again to pull his arm away, but the grip his Dad had was still too strong. It felt just like when Pope cut him. He tried to turn his head to see what his Dad and Anne were doing, but since Maggie still had her hand on the back of his head, she forced him to keep his head still.

"Hal no, look at me. Don't pay any attention over there. Just keep looking at me." Maggie told him, unable to keep a few tears from slipping down her cheeks. He had barely ever seen her cry, and he hated it. So, Hal bit his tongue, trying to stop from screaming and again squeezed her hand, tight enough that he was a little scared he was going break it but he stayed still as black spots started to dance across his vision.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Hal heard hid Dad's voice whisper in his ears. But, why was his Dad saying sorry? It wasn't his fault. But before he could ask, the black spots grew until everything went dark.

Anne had been doing her best to remain focused as she opened Hal's injury. His screaming and moving did not make easy. She hated that she was causing him such pain, no matter how necessary it was. When Hal suddenly stopped screaming, and Anne felt the muscles in his arm suddenly went limp, she looked up and over at Maggie.

"Maggie?"

"I think he passed out." The woman answered the doctor's unspoken question, though she kept her hand on the back of his head, fingers running through his hair.

"Well, that's probably for the best. Don't worry. I'm almost done." Anne assured them, then went right back to her task. She had finally finished cutting the injury open when he passed out. It was best that he did before she actually started cleaning out the infection.

"And there. Finished." Anne announced once she had cleaned out the cut as best as she could and stitched it up again. Tom nodded, but didn't glance in her direction, though he did release his hold on his son's arm though kept the one hand on Hal's shoulder.

Anne didn't say anything else. She started cleaning everything up in silence. Tom and Maggie didn't say anything either. When everything was packed away, Anne looked over at the woman sitting in the chair beside Hal. Maggie seemed to sense she was being watched because she looked up only a few seconds later. Anne tilted her head to the door, silently telling the blonde to come with her and she walked towards the door. Maggie quickly followed.

Once they were out of the room, Anne turned to Maggie, "You should get some rest. You've been up all night."

If Maggie had any protest to her orders, she didn't say. Without saying anything, Maggie headed to one of the bedrooms to get some sleep. Anne turned her head to look back inside Hal's bedroom to see that Tom had moved from his spot to sit in the chair where Maggie had been sitting only moments before. A part of her wanted to go back inside and comfort her husband, she knew that he had been through a lot over the last few days, but ultimately decided to give him some time alone with his son.

 **FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

For the three hours that Ben, Matt, and Anthony walked, barely a word was said. Ben and Matt were the only ones who would talk and even then, their conversations were short. Anthony walked ahead of the two brothers, leading them towards a mechanic shop that he had seen when he was with Pope a few days ago. They were hoping that there would still be some gas there.

"We getting close?" Ben asked, holding his gun tightly.

"Another half mile and we'll be there." Anthony replied, glancing over his shoulder at them.

"What about over there?" Ben and Anthony both turned their heads when they saw an old gas station half a block that Matt was pointing to, "There might be some gas there."

"Yeah, let's go check it out." Ben said, looking over at Anthony, expecting him to argue. His Dad and Anne may have decided to trust him, but that didn't mean he did. Anthony didn't say anything though. He just turned and started to walk towards the gas station with Matt. Ben followed closely behind.

When they got closer, Ben reached over and grabbed Anthony's arm, pulling him back away from his little brother. Matt however, saw what he was doing and stared at Ben, silently asking him what he was doing.

"We're going to check around back, you good to go check it out by yourself? We won't be long." Ben checked. Hesitantly, Matt nodded and continued towards the station while Ben started heading down the alley, fully expecting Anthony to follow, which he did.

The minute Matt was out of sight Ben turned to Anthony.

"Tell me what happened." The teenager demanded.

"What are you talking about?" Anthony asked though he had a feeling that he already knew due to the look on his face and the fact he made sure Matt wasn't with them.

"You know what! Why did Pope cut Hal's arm and why did my Dad get me and Matt out of the house?" Ben asked again.

"Pope gave your Dad a walkie talkie to communicate. At one point, you Dad brought up Sara and it ticked him off. He said some stuff that let your Dad know that Hal was still alive and was with us. Your Dad then tried to reason with Pope, to get him to let Hal go. Pope, Pope was beyond angry that your Dad thought he could try and make him do anything, so he. He um, he cut Hal's arm, so he would scream, and he, put the walkie talkie right by Hal's mouth so that your Dad would hear." Anthony explained, stopping every now and then to take a breath.

Ever since he had decided to help Tom and Hal, everything that had happened to Hal made him want to puke. From the look on Ben's face, he did too. His jaw was tense, tears starting to cover furious eyes. The teenager turned around, running his one hand through his hair. After a minute, he turned back to the former cop.

"Do you know why my Dad wanted me and Matt out of the house?" Ben asked, trying not to let his emotions get the best of him, but after seeing Hal tied up in that cellar, the bruises and cuts, and now hearing all of that, he was losing control. But he had to know more.

"Anne said that she was out of antibiotics, and that with the cut closing over infection, it was getting worse. She said that she needed to clean it out, but she would need to cut it open first. From what I gather, I don't think your Dad wanting you guys to see, or hear." Anthony told him.

"Why didn't you get my brother out before Pope did all that?" Ben questioned, voice cracking a little as he desperately tried to fight off the tears that were still welling up in his eyes.

"I was so angry Ben. I wasn't thinking straight. Believe me though, if I could go back and stop it, stop Hal from getting hurt, I would. I'm so sorry Ben." Anthony said, tears of his own starting to come into his eyes threatening to fall. Before the blonde could say anything else, Matt entered the alley.

"It's empty." Matt told them, then he saw the look on his older brother's face, "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything's fine." Ben told him, quickly lowering his head and bringing up his hand to wipe his eyes before saying, "Come on. Let's check out that mechanic garage."

He didn't wait for an answer, he just started walking out of the alley without looking to see if Matt or Anthony were following. Matt looked over at Anthony, who just nodded and headed after Ben, Matt right behind him.

 **FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

"Tom?" Anne called his name as she came into the room.

"Still asleep?" The doctor asked when Tom didn't say anything. Again, her husband didn't respond, so she made her way over to him and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"It's my fault." Tom said, completely ignoring his wife's questions.

"What? No, it's not." Anne objected, crouching down so she could look up at him.

"I brought up Sara when I was talking to Pope, before you guys showed up. It ticked him off enough to reveal that Hal was alive and still with him. I tried to reason with him, tried to convince him to let Hal go. Pope did this," Tom gestured to Hal's wrapped up arm, "to make it clear that there wasn't anything that I could do. He did this so that I'd hear him."

"It wasn't your fault. There was no way you could've known. You couldn't predict how Pope was going to respond." Anne tried to get him to believe, somewhat speaking to herself at the same time.

Ever since she realized that Pope had kidnapped Hal, the 'conversation' she had with Pope beforehand kept running through her mind. Had he been planning on going after her stepson the entire time, or did her words plant the idea in his head? At the time, all she could think about was trying to get Pope off his plan for revenge and getting out alive, not to mention, being so angry that the criminal was acting as though he was the only person who had lost someone. Now though, she wished she could go back in time and change what she said so that Hal wouldn't get caught in the cross-hair.

When Tom didn't say anything, Anne decided to change the subject and said, "You should get some more rest. I know you didn't sleep well last night."

"No. I'm staying here." Her husband immediately protested, shrugging her hand off of his shoulder and moved closer to Hal, holding his boy's hand in both of his.

"I'll go get you something to eat." Anne told him, and walked out of the room. Tom gave no indication that he heard her, all of his attention was still on his son. Once Anne was gone, he let the tears that he had been holding back since he first heard Hal scream and lowered his head on the bed.

If only he had kept his eye on Pope when he saw that he was starting to spiral. If only he had watched over Hal, instead of going off on his own for a walk to clear his head that night. If only he hadn't brought up Sara and tried to reason with the psychopath. None of this wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for him.

"Dad?" Tom's head instantly shot up when he heard his son's weak voice. Hal's brown eyes half opened and were watching him.

"Hey. I'm right here. How you feeling?" Tom asked as he brought one hand up to rest on Hal's head.

"My arm really hurts." Hal croaked, turning his gaze to his injured arm.

"Yeah, figured it would." Tom told him. He waited until his son looked back at him before asking, "Do you remember what happened?"

"Not really. I remember you saying something about Anne cleaning the cut, but nothing really after that." Tom sighed in relief when he heard that his boy didn't remember the pain that he had just gone through.

"Anne had to cut it open Hal, so she could clean it. That's why your arm hurts. I'm so sorry Hal." The father apologized, again lowering his head, unable to meet Hal's eyes, the same eyes he had inherited from his mother.

"It's okay. It's not your fault." Hal replied, squeezing his father's hand to get his attention.

"Hal," Tom started, trying to find a way to find a way to tell his son that he was wrong, but at that moment, the door burst open and Ben ran into the room.

"Ben?" Tom said in surprise.

"We got it. We got enough gas to make it back to Fayetteville." Ben informed him, slightly out of breath as though he had been running the entire way back from wherever he had come from.

"We do?" The parent questioned, not wanting to get his hopes up.

"Yeah, found an old garage, filled with it. We grabbed as much as we can, more than we need. Everyone's packing up the truck right now. As soon as they're done, we can go."

 **AN** – Yay, there are finally able to head back to the 2nd Mass! Thought I would be nice this time considering how late this update is. I will try to get back on track and update on Saturday like I usually do, but again, it could be late. Sorry in advance.


	10. We Have Something to Lose

**Disclaimer** – Still own nothing.

 **AN** \- Updates are going back to either Saturdays or Sundays. This chapter, while still very Hal centered, goes more to the other characters thoughts and reactions to what is all happening. Please review and

 **Enjoy!**

 _How terrible it is to love something that death can touch._ **–** **Albus Dumbledore**

Matt sat in the chair beside the cot his oldest brother was currently sleeping on. Besides another two or three patients and some nurses, they were the only ones in the infirmary that had been set up in Fayetteville while they had been gone.

It took them almost an entire day before they reached the 2nd Mass. When they did, they immediately got Hal to the infirmary. While Anne started him on a line of antibiotics, Tom filled Weaver in on what all happened. After another 10 hours, there was still no change in his brother's condition, at least, not one that was noticeable.

"Hey Matt. He's still sleeping?" Matt heard his stepmom ask as she came over to them.

"Yeah." Matt replied. Hal had barely woken up since they left. He slept almost through the entire drive back, only waking up once, and that wasn't for more than ten minutes. It was staring to scare him, a lot.

"Don't worry Matt. Sleeping in long periods of time is normal when people are sick." Anne told him when she saw the worried look on the boy's face.

That look hadn't really left Matt's face ever since he first learned that his brother had been kidnapped. The one time it did was when they were first reunited. After seeing how badly Hal had been beaten though, it immediately came back and didn't leave, especially when they realized that Hal was sick due to an infection.

When Matt didn't respond, Anne squeezed his shoulder and moved more to Hal's side. She pulled out her thermometer, placed it behind Hal's ear and waited. When the device beeped, she pulled it away and checked his temperature. 103.1 degrees.

Anne put the thermometer back in her pocket and pulled her stethoscope from around her neck. Placing the diaphragm on her patient's chest, Anne listened to his heartbeat. Brow furrowing over what she heard, she took off the stethoscope and wrapped her hand around his wrist. She waited a long moment before she finally let go.

"He's getting worse, isn't he?" Anne looked up at Matt in surprise when she heard his question. The youngest Mason was staring at her with an expectant look, as though he already knew the answer.

"His fever is higher, but other than that, his condition hasn't really changed at all." The doctor answered honestly as she made her way back over to Matt, "If there is still no change in another few hours, I'm going to switch the antibiotics with a different one. We'll see if that works."

Again, Matt didn't say anything, though he did look more dejected than he did before. Anne crouched down beside him, not unlike she did when she was trying to comfort the boy's father.

"Matt, I promise, I'm going to do everything I can for him. You know that, right?" Matt nodded, but still kept his eyes on his brother. Unable to think of anything else to say, Anne quickly pressed a kiss on top of Matt's head and started walking away.

 **FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Two hours later, Anne had one of the nurses get her an IV bag of a different antibiotics for Hal. As much as she wished and prayed for the one he was on would work, it didn't. The one that she had started him on better work because it was the only other kind they had. If it didn't, well, Anne didn't want to think about what would happen if the infection kept getting worse. Unfortunately, Tom, Ben, Matt, Maggie and Weaver were all waiting for her on the other side of the room.

"Well?" Tom said the minute Anne came to stand in front of them.

"I had to switch him to the other antibiotics. He wasn't responding at all to the other one." Anne informed them.

"And if this one doesn't work either?" Maggie questioned, not even bothering to hide her anger and fear at the situation.

"Well, then he'll become septic." Anne replied, trying to stay as professional as possible.

"What does septic mean? You never told us." Matt spoke up. The dark haired woman looked down on him, then at everyone else. When they first discovered that Hal had an infection, him becoming septic was practically a worst case scenario that she could get away without telling them. Now however, she would have to.

"I'm going to be brutally honest right now because I have no idea how else to say it. Sepsis is when the infection gets into the bloodstream. When that happens, it can travel anywhere in the body. It can get into the lungs, kidneys, liver. Once that happens, it can be extremely difficult to get rid of. Even before the invasion, it was hard to get rid of." Anne told them. Everyone's faces instantly paled at hearing that.

"Is he already septic?" Tom asked after a moment.

"No, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried that he's about to. I can't do any tests to confirm it, but his heart rate is starting to speed up and his blood pressure is dropping. It's very slight, but it is there." Anne replied.

"If he does become septic, and you can't stop it," Matt started, looking already very frightful at what the answer most likely was, "is he going to-"

"Yes Matt. It will kill him." Anne interrupted him. If she thought their faces were pale before, they were practically albino white now. Before anyone could say anything else, Maggie turned and stormed out of the room.

 **FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Maggie kept walking until she ended up near the edge of their 'camp'. She sat down on the steps of one of the buildings, lowering her head into her hands. There was nobody else around and that was how she wanted it. She wanted to be alone right now.

She knew that her reaction might have been a little immature and dramatic, but she honestly couldn't take it anymore. After everything that had happened, from pushing Hal away after what she did to Karen, being separated for four months, terrified of what could've happened, being reunited only to fight about what was happening with Lexi, then with everything that happened with the spikes, it was too much. The look on Hal's face when he walked into the room was burned into her brain. Part of the reason she was so hesitant to starting a relationship with Hal was because she was scared that she was going to hurt him, and she did.

And now, he had been kidnapped by Pope and almost killed, only for them to think they were finally in the clear before all this happened. Listening to Anne tell her as well as her ex-boyfriend's family that he could die became too much. Maggie's pushed down emotions came up to the surface, threatening to overwhelm her and she couldn't break down, not in there, not with Hal's family. They were his family, not her, she had no right to scream and cry and break in front of them. Especially not with how she had hurt him.

"You okay?" Maggie heard Ben approaching her from behind long before he said anything.

"Are you seriously asking me that?" Maggie questioned, almost bitterly. With her having some of his spikes, she could feel his emotions and knew that he could feel hers too. She knew that he was terrified for his older brother, yet for some reason, was over here with her.

"You should be with Hal, and your Dad, and Matt." Maggie told him before he had a chance to respond to her previous question.

"I want to, but, there isn't anything I can do there. Just a lot of sitting and waiting. I have to do something. Thought maybe I could help you." Ben explained, sounding frustrated with how helpless they all were right now.

"You really want to help me?" Maggie asked, finally turning over to look at him.

"Yes." Ben responded instantly.

"Help me find a way to get my spikes out." Ben looked completely stunned and he stared at her, speechless.

"I get that you and Hal did it to save my life, and I'm grateful, but I can't keep doing this. These spikes, I can't think straight with them. I don't know what I'm truly thinking or feeling and I'm having trouble controlling what I do and because of that I-" Maggie stopped herself from finishing the sentence, stopped herself from saying how she hurt Hal, how the spikes were pulling her away from Hal and towards Ben, which she never wanted.

"You hurt Hal. And now you can't be with him even though you love him." Ben said simply, coming over to sit by her. When he saw the stunned look on her face he added, "It's not like it was hard to see. Everyone can see it. Everyone knows it."

Maggie didn't say anything. She simply moved her head to look down at the ground. The idea of getting the spikes taken out had already been on her mind for a while, but now, with the fear of losing Hal hanging over her, she knew she had to do it. If she was being honest with herself, she knew she was already in danger of losing Hal. Not to death, but with any hope of having a relationship with him again, of going back to the way they were.

She knows that he loves her, and she told him that she loves him, but if she couldn't truly make a choice between the two, he would eventually give up and find someone else. Someone who was actually worthy of him, someone who wouldn't break his heart. He wouldn't wait for her forever, and she couldn't expect him too. He deserved better than that.

"It was Cochise, he was the one who gave us the technology to put the spikes in your back, and it was Anne who did it. You should talk to them. Cochise is actually waiting for Dad and Weaver in the distillery." Maggie turned her head to look at the teenager again when he started speaking. He wasn't going to try to change her mind?

"It's your life Maggie. It's your choice. While Hal and I put my spikes in you to save your life, it wasn't what you wanted. If this is what you want, then you have my support. And I know you'd have Hal's too." Ben answered her unspoken question.

"Thank you, Ben." Maggie told him sincerely. She gave his shoulder a quick, comforting squeeze before she stood up and went to find Cochise.

 **FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Weaver left the infirmary not long after Maggie did. He wanted to stay and support the man he considered his best friend and the man's family, but he knew they needed their space. Besides, there was still a lot that needed to be done if they were to move the 2nd Mass out soon to head to Washington. And since he knew that Tom needed to be with Hal right now, it fell to him to do it.

He was just about to head over to Dingaan to see if he had made any headway on the Espheni device they had found, the one that he hadn't told Tom or Anne or their family about given everything that was happening at the moment, when he saw the small group of soldiers he sent out on a patrol earlier making their way towards him.

"What did you find?" Weaver asked Butterfield, the head of the small group.

"Sir, we found the naval station. It's filled with soldiers and military equipment. From the sounds of it, they're part of the 14th Virginia division."

 **AN** – For those who don't know, Butterfield is an actual character from the show. He was one of the people Weaver was talking to in Pope Breaks Bad right before he talks to Tom who was heading out to rescue Hal. He was also in other episodes according to Falling Skies Wiki. Next chapter will be up in a week, hopefully.


	11. We Have a Weakness

**Disclaimer** – Still own nothing. Please review and

 **Enjoy!**

Maggie sat down on the metal table and pulled her hair up into a bun so that Cochise and Anne could get to the spikes. Once her hair was up, she laid down on her stomach as Anne came up beside her.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Anne questioned again. Ever since Maggie had told the doctor and Cochise last night that she wanted her spikes out, the doctor kept asking if she was sure she wanted this.

"Yes, I'm positive." Maggie insisted. Anne still looked a little hesitant, but nodded. Maggie knew that Anne wasn't exactly thrilled that she wanted her spikes out, mostly because the spikes gave her abilities that could be used against the aliens, but finally agreed to help, before they headed out to the military base that was spotted last night.

"Okay, here we go." Anne said as she placed the device Cochise gave on Maggie's back, over her spikes and began the procedure.

 **FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

"Dad, can't I stay here with Hal?" Matt asked his Dad as they headed towards one of the cars that they would be taking to the military base.

Practically every member of the 2nd Mass was packing up and getting into the vehicles to go to the base with them. Once Weaver had told Tom about what the scouts had found, he immediately gave the order to head over and check out. He was hoping that they would be able to be allies in the final fight against the Espheni.

"Everyone is going except for those who need to stay here Matt. We need to check out this base, make sure that it's good to use and they are willing to help us. The more people who are there to help convince them to help us, the better. Plus, the place is better guarded. It's safer there." Tom explained, placing his bag in the car.

"Then shouldn't we be taking Hal with us?" Matt questioned, stopping in his tracks. His Dad also stopped and came to stand in front of him, bending down so they were eye level.

"We would, but Hal is too sick to travel. Anne doesn't want to risk moving him until we have too. Once we check out the base, and she checks out their infirmary and supplies, we'll bring Hal and the others here too." Tom explained.

Though pretty much everyone was going, there were some people that would be staying. Those like Hal, that were too sick or injured to make the journey just yet, some soldiers to protect them, and Dingaan and Cochise who were still trying to figure out the Espheni device that Weaver had finally told him about.

Matt opened his mouth to respond when Ben came up behind him and placed his hand on his little brother's shoulder and said, "Don't worry. Hal will be fine, he always is."

The youngest Mason nodded, and continued making his way towards the car where Anne was waiting for them, their Dad right behind him. Ben was about to follow when he saw Maggie coming out of the distillery. She had her spikes removed only about an hour ago and he was a little worried about her, even though Anne assured him that the procedure went great.

"Hey. How are you feeling?" Ben asked as Maggie came over.

"I'm doing good. Up and walking, like I was never hurt at all." Maggie answered, giving him a small smile before asking, "You guys all ready to go?"

"Oh yeah. Scouts say that this base has lots of weapons and hopefully, a lot of medical supplies with it." Ben replied.

While he was glad that they had found a base that was filled with soldiers and weapons, he was mostly hoping for the medical supplies. Anne's words from earlier that morning were still stuck in his head. His older brother needed medication more than he needed weapons.

"Hopefully. Are you okay?" Maggie asked, putting more emphasis on the question so he'd know what she was asking. While she didn't care about Ben the way she knew he cared about her, she did care about him. Ever since she and Hal had officially gotten together, it was like his family had become hers and that hadn't changed at all, though it was now slightly awkward.

"I'm fine." Ben immediately responded as he ducked his head so he wouldn't meet her eyes and turned to walk away. His Dad and Matt were already getting into the vehicle and he didn't want to talk to Maggie about the spikes or anything like that. He only took a few steps before he turned around again and faced her.

"Just take care of my brother while we're gone." Ben requested, still not meeting her gaze.

"You know I will." Maggie promised.

The teenager nodded, then headed towards the car Matt had already gotten into. His Dad was waiting patiently for him to enter the passenger side before he got into the driver's seat. Maggie watched as they, along with the other vehicles and fighters that were going headed out of the camp and towards the military base. Once they were gone, she turned and walked back to the infirmary.

 **FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Hal felt as though he was being burned alive from the inside. It seemed as though fire was running through his veins and yet, he shivered. Every slight breeze, every touch felt like ice against his burning skin. He couldn't tell if the cold was a relief, or just added pain. He wondered if it would be better to just burn or to just freeze instead of both.

Someone laid a cool, gentle hand on his forehead and he let out a small whimper. Of pain or of relief, he didn't know. Slowly, he opened his eyes to see a blurry human form beside him. Long blonde hair cascaded down her shoulders, and beautiful brown eyes stared into his.

"Mag," Hal couldn't form the rest of the name. His throat was like sandpaper and his tongue felt swollen.

"It's okay Hal, I'm right here." Maggie told him, moving her hand off his head. Hal's eyes closed and he turned his head away.

Over the last few hours, his fever had risen drastically and it had started to show. The day was already over and still there was no sign that the other antibiotics were working. She found herself praying that the military base the 2nd Mass went to had medical supplies. His fever had gotten to the point where she was sure he was getting delirious.

He had started to toss and turn on the bed in discomfort, then started mumbling incoherently. Most of the time, she had no idea what he was saying, but there were some words and names she managed to catch. There were times Pope's name slipped through which gave Maggie a fairly good idea about what he was hallucinating about. Whenever he said Pope's name, it was always followed by him calling for his Dad.

There was one time Hal actually called for his Mom, and the way he said broke Maggie's heart. While Hal never really talked about his Mom, she had heard from his brothers about how close they were. Maggie wished there was more she could do for him. The washcloth that she kept wet to cool down his fever had kept falling off his forehead because of his movements. So now, she kept the cloth in her hand and would just press it against his face whenever she could.

When Hal turned his head again to face her, Maggie laid the cloth over Hal's forehead and she heard him mumble her name again. She gave him a sad smile that he couldn't see before lowering her head so her mouth was right by his ear.

"I'm right here Hal. It's okay, just go back to sleep."

Maggie lifted her head, but it felt heavy. It was very late and she hadn't gotten any sleep. With her spikes, she hadn't needed sleep at all, but now that thy were gone, the need for rest was hitting her hard. Slowly, she again lowered her head and placed it on Hal's pillow, just beside his head. She was about to fall asleep when Hal started muttering again.

"Ben, Ben." Maggie's brow furrowed when she heard that. Hal hadn't called for his brother at all during the last few hours and she wondered what that meant.

"It's okay Hal. It's okay." Maggie assured him, but Hal didn't seem to think so.

"No. Wrong. Problem." Hal muttered. The way he said it made Maggie wonder if he was actually still somewhat aware of she was saying.

"Shh. It's okay Hal. Just go back to sleep." Maggie whispered comfortingly. Whether the exhaustion caught up to him or he decided to listen to her, Maggie didn't know but Hal stopped mumbling and seemed to have fallen asleep. She followed his example only a few minutes later.

 **AN** – So because the scenes at the military base are going to be exactly the same as they are in the show besides not having Hal, Maggie, or Isabella there, I'm not going to write about it. Sorry. Does that also give you guys a better idea of what's happening to Ben right now? Hope you guys liked this chapter. Next one should be up within a week, be it might be a little late cause I'm going to a family reunion next week. I'll try to get it done early, but if it isn't, sorry.


	12. We Have a Reason to Live

**Disclaimer** – Still own nothing.

 **AN** – I uploaded this chapter earlier because I'm going to be gone for the weekend and didn't want to keep you guys waiting. Major Halgie this chapter. Please review and

 **Enjoy!**

Hal slowly opened his eyes as he finally woke up. He still felt a little groggy, but his mind finally felt clearer than it had been every other time he had woken up lately. He didn't recognize the room, but did recognize the other gurneys and few medical supplies. He was back with the 2nd Mass.

Feeling a small weight on his pillow, Hal weakly turned his head to the right and saw a blonde head right beside his. Maggie, and she was fast asleep. He wondered if he should wake her, but ultimately decided to let her sleep. While his memory of the last few days was a little foggy, he did remember that she had been worried. It was nice to see her sleeping so peacefully.

It didn't last. Not long after he noticed that she was beside him, her eyes fluttered open, staring directly into his. Hal wasn't sure if he had moved or made any noise that woke her or if she woke up naturally, but when she saw that he was also awake, she smiled.

"Hey. How are you feeling?" Maggie asked in a quiet voice.

"Better." Hal replied, his dry throat making his voice sound scratchy. Maggie frowned when she heard his voice and laid her hand on his forehead. The frown was instantly replaced with a wide smile as she realized his skin was no longer as hot as it was before she fell asleep, it felt as though his fever was gone.

"You're fever broke." Maggie stated with an almost ecstatic tone.

"Finally." Hal mumbled before he started coughing. Maggie immediately got up and grabbed the water bottle that was sitting on the small table a few feet away. Offering the drink to the young man, he grabbed it and took a long gulp before he looked back at her.

"Thanks." Hal said with a smile.

"You're welcome." Maggie replied, sitting down on the edge of the bed. Hal quickly finished the bottle and handed it back to the blonde beside him when she held out her hand to take it.

Placing the now empty bottle on the ground, Maggie opened her mouth and said, "You had us all pretty worried."

"That bad huh?" Hal asked. He said it jokingly, but when he saw the serious look on Maggie's face, he dropped his grin.

"Yeah. You weren't responding to the antibiotics. Anne was thinking you were heading down a worst case scenario." Maggie revealed and Hal immediately felt guilty for worrying her and his family.

"Don't worry, you're not getting rid of me that easily." Hal assured her, reaching over and grabbing her hand. He wasn't sure what her response to that would be, he never really knew where they stood after the spikes and Ben and their break up, but she squeezed his hand tightly, accepting the contact.

For a moment, the two just stared at each other. Hal didn't really know what to say, he just wanted to enjoy the moment while it lasted. Maggie however, had so much she wanted to say that she didn't know where to start.

"So, what all happened?" Hal broke the silence as he wondered what happened while he was sick.

"What do you remember?" Maggie asked, still holding his hand tightly.

"Last thing I clearly remember is my Dad telling me about how Anne had to cut my arm and then Ben ran into the room. Everything after that gets all confusing." Hal informed her.

"I'm not surprised, your fever started getting worse after that. We got you back to the 2nd Mass and into the infirmary. You were out pretty much the entire trip back. The few times you were conscious after that you were pretty out of it, especially last night." Maggie explained. Seeing his brow scrunch up in concentration, it was clear that he was trying to remember but couldn't.

Wanting to know what exactly he was thinking when he called for Ben, Maggie pressed on, "There was something strange you said last night though. You started saying Ben's name, and when I told you everything was okay, you said it wasn't, that I was wrong."

The look of concentration didn't leave Hal's face as he slowly shook his head and said, "I don't remember. Why? Is everything okay with Ben?"

"I would think so. He left with your Dad and Matt and the other members of the 2nd Mass to this military base that they found. There are soldiers and weapons there. Your Dad and Weaver are hoping they'll join us on our way to Washington. They left yesterday." Maggie told him. Hal nodded, letting her know that he heard her, but still had no idea why he would call for Ben. Shaking off the thought, Hal looked back over at Maggie and saw her watching him, looking as though there was something else that was bugging her.

"Is something wrong? You look like there's something bothering you." Hal wondered. Maggie looked nervous and instead of answering, she just lifted his hand that she was still holding and placed it on her neck, right where her spikes were. Hal sat up in surprise when he realized that there were no spikes at all in her neck.

"They're gone." Hal remarked, looking over at her. Maggie smiled and nodded.

"Turns out, the spikes healed my spine, so I could have them out and I'd be perfectly okay. I didn't them anymore, and I didn't want them." Maggie revealed.

"I thought you liked that they made you stronger, and a better fighter. You love fighting." Hal said. Maggie lowered her gaze, but kept holding his hand to her neck.

"I love you more." Her voice was no more than a whisper, but it was loud and clear to Hal.

When he didn't respond, Maggie looked up at him and saw that he was completely stunned, almost like he couldn't believe that she said that or thought he hadn't heard her correctly. To make sure he knew that she was being serious, she leaned forward an pressed her lips against his. Hal quickly returned the kiss and brought his hand that was on her neck up into her hair to cradle the back of her head while she placed her hand on his head by his ear carefully, not wanting to put any pressure on the bruises that still littered his face.

"I love you too." Hal whispered as they both pulled away in order to breathe. Maggie let out a small laugh of happiness, causing Hal to give her a wide smile. Before she could say anything, Hal pulled her closer to him and kissed her again, which she whole-heartedly returned.

This kiss didn't last as long as the other one as Maggie pulled her head away when a sudden thought came to mind.

"I should go get one of the nurses to check you over. And I'll get some food too. You're probably hungry, right?" Hal nodded as he suddenly became aware of how empty his stomach was. Maggie stood up and left to go find the nurse and get some food, but not before giving Hal a quick peck on his lips, leaving him grinning from ear to ear.

 **FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Hal felt a lot better after finally eating. He remembered not eating that much after he was rescued due to how sick he had been. Maggie felt a lot better when the nurse confirmed that the antibiotics were indeed working and that Hal was going to be just fine. She changed the bandage on his arm and checked his concussion before leaving to check on the other patients, though she did say that he would need to finish the round of medication to make sure the infection was completely gone.

It was late at night when Hal and Maggie finally got another moment alone. After the nurse said he was okay and Maggie got him something to eat, she had to go on guard duty, especially since a lot of the fighters were gone. When she did come back, she laid down on the gurney beside Hal.

"I missed this." Hal said after a long period of silence, holding her tighter against him. He felt Maggie nod against his chest.

"I did too." She responded, remembering the last time she and Hal slept in the same bed. It was the night before they left Charleston. After that, she had killed Karen and ended up pushing him away leading to them sleeping in different tents. And when they were reunited in Chinatown, they ended up fighting about Lexi, then came the spikes.

"I'm sorry Hal, about everything." Maggie told him.

"I am too." He replied, pressing a kiss on the top of her head, causing her to look up at him. The bruises and cuts were still there, some of them had started fading to a yellow, but they still caused a feeling of anger, seeing him hurt, even though she knew he would be okay.

"What is it?" Hal asked when Maggie kept staring at him in silence.

"Nothing, I'm just glad you're okay, and safe. I was really worried when Anne told us Pope kidnapped you, we all were." Maggie informed him. Hal gave her a small smile as he brought up his hand to brush her hair away from her face.

"Well, it's over now. I'm right here, and I'm not going anywhere." Hal promised before lowering his head so he could kiss her forehead. He was about to kiss her on the lips when they heard the sound of a motorcycle engine nearby that was coming closer.

"What is that?" Hal asked, though he knew that Maggie probably didn't know either.

"I don't know. I'm going to check it out. I'll be back." Maggie told him as she got up the bed and headed out of the building.

As she exited the door, she was greeted by the sight of Dingaan and Cochise standing by a small person who was getting off the motorcycle they had driven on. Coming closer to them, she quickly recognized who was getting off the bike.

"Matt? What are you doing here? What's going on?" Maggie asked as Matt took off his helmet, and surge of fear shot through her when she saw the terrified and desperate look on the kid's face.

"They arrested Dad and Ben. They think they're working for the Espheni. They want to kill them."

 **AN** – duh Duh DUH! So, even though this chapter was uploaded earlier, the next chapter should still be uploaded next Saturday or Sunday. Sorry, but having a set schedule really helps me focus and get everything done. Only two more chapters left.


	13. We Have Someone to Fight With

**Disclaimer** – Own nothing.

 **AN** – Thank you scienceficfan24 for your review on The Caretaker! I'm glad you liked it even though it was not exactly what you were expecting and am you glad you are enjoying this story too. Hope you and everyone else enjoys this chapter too. Only one more chapter after this then it's finished. I'm hoping to update Missing Scenes and start Blindsided very soon, but it might take a little while depending on how my schedule works out, but don't worry, it will happen, I promise. Please review and

 **Enjoy!**

As Maggie listened to Matt explain everything that happened at the military base, and a familiar feeling of anger and rage rose up inside her. After everything that had happened, after everything the 2nd Mass, especially the Mason family, had done to fight the aliens, to fight for their survival, they did not need this. They did not deserve this. They didn't even really have time for this.

"Weaver's pretty sure there is something wrong with the leader of the base. That she might be the one helping the aliens." Matt finished, looking down at the ground. He was sitting on a chair in the main room of the distillery, Dingaan, Cochise and Maggie standing in front of him. With Weaver, Tom, and Anne all gone, it ended up falling to them to be the leaders of what was left of the 2nd Mass.

"That's the only thing about this that makes sense. Controlling a human to eliminate the ones who are an actual threat to them would take care of a lot of their problems, and Tom has been a thorn in their side for a very long time." Ding realized.

"Whatever the reason or thought process is, the bottom line is we need to get Tom, Ben and the rest of the 2nd Mass out of there." Maggie said, then looked over at Dingaan, "Is that one moving truck good to go?"

"We'll have to top up the gas, but it won't take long. Then yeah, it should be good." The technician replied.

"Then go do it, and get every fighter ready to move out, except a few, to guard those that are still in the infirmary." It wasn't until Maggie said that did Matt remember that his oldest brother was here.

While he had been at the military base he had been worried about Hal and been hoping that Anne would find the medical supplies she needed to help his brother. But when his Dad and Ben were arrested and put on trial while the rest of the 2nd Mass were rounded up, his priorities changed to getting out of the base and getting help.

As Maggie, Dingaan and Cochise started coming up with a plan to save his family and the rest of their group, Matt stood up and headed over to the infirmary to see his big brother.

It was a lot emptier with Anne and most of the nurses and patients gone, but what surprised him most was that Hal was awake, and sitting up on the bed. The IV was still in his hand but he actually seemed aware of what was going on. Apparently hearing him, Hal turned his head to look at who had entered the room, and smiled when he saw it was him. Matt broke into a run and threw his arms around his big brother.

"Hey buddy, hey. It's okay, I'm okay." Hal immediately assured him, but his words caused tears to fall from Matt's eyes as the relief of having his one brother okay, yet the fear for his other brother and father and possibly his stepmother both started to overwhelm him.

Hal didn't say anything else for a long moment, sensing that his baby brother needed the hug more than anything. But when he heard the quiet sniffles and felt his shoulder becoming wet, he pulled away so he could get a look at Matt's face. Sure enough, tears were running down the kid's face.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm okay." Hal assured him yet again, but then he caught the look of fear in his brother's eyes and knew something else was going on.

"Matt, what's wrong?" Matt opened his mouth to answer, but stopped when they heard someone else come into the room. They both looked over at the door and saw Maggie standing in the doorway, watching them.

It didn't take Maggie long to realize that Matt had left them. It also didn't take long to realize where he'd go, she knew that he had been worried about his big brother before they left for the military base and now, with everything that happened, Hal was the only family he had left and probably wanted to make sure that at least he was okay. When she saw the worried look on Hal's face, she looked over at Matt and saw tears running down his cheeks and fear in his eyes and knew that Hal had figured out something was wrong.

"Maggie, what happened?" Hal decided to ask her since his little brother seemed upset to explain. The blonde woman looked a little uncomfortable, but came into the room and sat down on the chair that was still by the bed."

"Well, it turns out that the military base, decided that your Dad and Ben are traitors and um," Maggie paused, trying to come up with a gentle way of telling Hal that his family and actually been sentenced to death.

"They want to kill them." Matt said bluntly, trying to keep the remaining tears from falling. Hal stared at him in shock before he pulled his little brother into his arms again, not even caring that he was putting pressure on his injured arm.

"It's okay, we'll go get them. I promise." Hal promised him.

"We will save them, but Hal, you're staying here." Maggie told him.

"Oh no, I'm coming with you." Hal immediately protested.

"Hal, you had just been kidnapped, and just last night, were so sick you were delirious. You are in no shape do to anything." Maggie explained. Hal was about to protest yet again when they heard loud voices coming from outside the building. It only took another minute for the door to open and for them to see what had caused this commotion.

Tom Mason stood in the doorway. He looked wet and filthy, a fearful yet exhausted expression covered his face. The father looked around the room before quickly spotting Maggie and two of his sons. Matt immediately ran over to his Dad and threw his arms around him, hugging him tightly just like he did with Hal only moments before.

Tom bent down and quickly returned the embrace before looking back up at Hal, realizing that his son was wide awake and sitting up in the bed. His skin no longer as pale and the beads of sweat that had been rolling down his son's forehead was no longer there either.

"Hal." Tom said as he went over to his oldest and bent down to wrap his arms around him tightly. Hal didn't hesitate to return the embrace.

"You're okay." The former President whispered in relief.

"Yeah, I'm fine. But, how did you get free? Where's Ben?" Hal asked once he realized that his other brother was no where in sight.

"Two of the soldiers there tried to help us escape, but Ben and Anne were caught and one of the guards were killed." Tom explained, pulling away and standing up so he could look at the three of them.

"Wait, they arrested Anne too?" Matt asked. He had known that his Dad and Ben wee arrested and being put on trial, while the rest of the 2nd Mass was being rounded up, but he didn't know what had happened to his stepmother.

"Yeah, they found out about Lexi." Tom informed them. Matt just looked down at the ground while Hal stared at his Dad.

"So, you just left them?" Hal questioned, completely stunned that his Dad would do that.

"I didn't have a choice. But don't worry, Weaver's still there, he won't let anything happen to them while we get ready to rescue them." Tom tried to assure not only Hal, but also Matt and Maggie.

"I'm coming with you guys." Hal told them.

"No, you're not Hal. You've been extremely sick the last few days, you're not going anywhere." The Mason father immediately objected.

"Dad, my fever broke last night. I've been fine for the last twelve hours. I can do this." Hal responded.

"Hal, the nurse said you need to finish the antibiotics to completely get rid of the bacteria otherwise the infection could come back." Maggie reminded him, completely against the idea of putting the man she loved in harms way after they had just gotten him out of it.

"I'll be fine being off it for a few hours. Once we save Ben and Anne they can put the IV right back. Let me help." The young man tried to bargain with his father.

"Hal-" Tom started only for Hal to cut him off.

"Dad, I'm either coming with you, or I'll wait till you're gone before I rip out the IV and follow you. Your choice." Hal's tone made it very clear there was going to be no argument. Tom looked almost helpless at trying to figure out what to do when Maggie came up with a solution.

"I can keep an eye on him." Tom looked over at the woman standing beside his oldest son. That could work, at least, as long as he didn't suddenly start getting sick again, or pass out.

"If you even start feeling sick-" Tom started.

"I'll tell you," Hal again interrupted, then look over at Maggie and added, "or you."

"Okay, hurry up. We need to be there before sunrise." Tom ultimately agreed.

The 2nd Mass's then made his way outside to see if the other soldiers, including Dingaan and Cochise were ready to move out while Hal ripped out his IV and grabbed his boots that Maggie handed to him.

As Hal finished tying up his boots, something was suddenly placed right in front of his face. He sat up and realized that it was Matt, and he was holding his camo jacket. He hadn't seen it in a while. The last time he remembered seeing it, he was wearing it. That was when Pope captured him. After the psychopath knocked him out, Hal woke up and his coat was gone.

"We found it while we were looking for you." Matt explained as Hal reached out and grabbed it, "Figured you'd want it back."

"Thanks buddy." Hal said with a smile as he slipped on the coat.

"Come on, let's go." Maggie told them as Hal stood up off the cot and together, the three of them headed to the truck so they could go rescue the rest of their family and the 2nd Mass.

 **AN** – Only one more chapter after this, which will include some more Hal and Matt and Hal and Ben. Anthony will also be making a reappearance in that chapter too. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. See you next week!


	14. We Open Ourselves to be Loved in Return

**Disclaimer** – Still own nothing.

 **AN** – So this is the last chapter of this story. For those that want more Falling Skies fics, especially Hal centric ones, don't worry. I still have at least two more up my sleeve, maybe more. We'll see. I'm also going to really try to start and finish more chapters for Missing Scenes. But for now, please review and

 **Enjoy!**

Ben listened to Anne's speech quietly as he stood beside her, hands tied behind his back with zip ties. In front of them, stood a line of military soldiers, guns in their hands, ready to be raised and fired. At them. He had come to the base with the hope that the soldiers would side with them against the Espheni, just like everyone else. And with the hope that their medical supplies would be able to save Hal, but what they found was everything opposite to what they wanted.

After only spending a few hours in the base, Ben had been jumped by the soldiers and knocked out. When he woke up strapped down to a stretcher, on his stomach, he knew what was going on. It had been a long time since anyone didn't trust him, practically fear him because of his spikes, but then again, these people hadn't ever seen someone who was harnessed before. But when that doctor or scientist, or whatever the heck he was, came in, he quickly realized that it was more than that. It wasn't until they led him out to where his Dad was, did he see that they were wrong about this base.

Before he knew it, he, and his Dad were declared traitors by the soldiers and were sentenced to death by firing squad. Not long after that, Anne was thrown in the cells where they were being held along with them. Luckily for them, the soldiers guarding them clearly knew something was up with the leader of the base and helped them escape, and though it failed miserably, at least his brothers and Dad were safe. He was still hoping that Hal would be okay, but if what Anne said before they left was anything to go by, there was a chance hid big brother might already be on death's door.

Ben was pulled out of his reverie when one of the soldiers was suddenly standing in front of him, and put the black bag over his head. All of his instincts were telling him to shake the bag off his head, to use his strength to snap the zip ties, but it was like he couldn't move. His entire body felt frozen and stiff. Whether it was from the sudden fear that he was actually about to die, or because his body was still healing from having one of his spikes ripped, he didn't know and ultimately, it didn't matter.

The next thing he heard clearly, was one of the soldiers start to count down. With each passing number, Ben felt his body tense more and more, blood pumping so hard that it was starting to become the only sound he could hear. He wasn't even aware the countdown was over until the word 'fire' broke through.

But there was no bang of a gun going off, no bullet hitting him, no pain whatsoever. There was just silence, until the soldier yelled 'fire' again. Yet again, there was no bang, no bullet, no pain. Again, the soldier yelled for the other soldiers to fire and there was still nothing.

Suddenly, there was a loud crashing and people yelling, Ben could hear the sound of an approaching a car and he instinctively moved backwards, not wanting to get hit. He wasn't sure what was going on, but when heard his Dad's voice, he felt the tension and fear leave his body. He knew his Dad would come back for them, that he wasn't going to let anything happen to him.

The black bag was suddenly pulled off his head and his Dad stood in front him, fear and anger mixed on his face.

"Are you okay?" His Dad asked quickly as he cut through the zip ties that held his hands behind his back. Ben nodded and his Dad moved to help Anne, but Matt was already there doing that.

Ben rubbed his wrists, trying to get the feeling of the plastic off of them as he watched the soldiers that had come with his Dad free the rest of the 2nd Mass that were being kept behind a large fence. He looked around, trying to see if he could see his brother or Maggie, but the only thing that caught his attention was one of the soldiers that was part of the 14th Virginia, the one that had counted down and yelled fire, raising his gun and pointing it right at him.

 _BANG!_

The soldier fell down to the ground, blooding pouring out of his back. Someone had shot him from behind and at an angle. Ben looked up, wanting to know who had shot him, who had kill him to save his life. What he saw made his breath catch in his throat. Up on the rooftop, was Maggie, and Hal. His big brother, was perched beside Maggie, and had his gun up, pointing right where the soldier had stood.

Ben watched his older brother lower the gun and give him a small smile, and he smiled in return. They were okay, all of them were okay. He and Anne weren't shot by the firing squad, his Dad and Matt were right there beside him, and Hal was apparently, no longer sick. They were all okay.

 **FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

"You almost done?" Ben asked his stepmom, his impatience almost completely hidden by his exhaustion. The only thing keeping him awake was the uncomfortable position he was in, lying on his stomach so Anne could look at his spikes, and the fact he was desperate to see Hal.

Once everything had calmed down in the courtyard, which happened quickly after Weaver exposed their leader, Katy, as an Espheni spy, Anne practically dragged him to the infirmary to look him over. She had heard that he was tortured and had a spike ripped out when they were in the cells, and now wanted to check him over. He had briefly seen Maggie and Hal coming to the infirmary too, but he had no idea if they were still there or not since Anne took him to a private part of the infirmary.

"Yup, I'm done. You can sit up." Anne told him. Getting into a sitting position, Ben grabbed the black sweater he had been wearing before and slid it on.

"Do you know how Hal is?" Ben asked, doing up the zipper.

"I managed to talk to one of the nurses that stayed in Fayetteville with him, she said that the antibiotics that I switched him to before we left started working. He should be fine but he has to finish them. I want him to stay in the infirmary for at least a week, and to come for a check up every day for another week to make sure that the infection is gone though." Anne replied.

"But he is going to be okay?" Ben couldn't help but question. Smiling, Anne nodded.

"Yes, he will be just fine, and so will you, as soon as you go get some sleep. So, to bed, now." Anne ordered, though the smile remained on her face.

"I want to see Hal first." Ben revealed, hopping off the gurney. The doctor thought for a moment, then decided that while the middle Mason son was in desperate need of some rest, he had the right to his brother first.

"Go ahead, but only for a few minutes. You need your rest, and so does he." Anne said. Ben's only response was to head out of the private room and towards his brother.

 **FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Hal sat still and quiet as one of the nurses in the military base's infirmary hooked him back up to an IV filled with the antibiotics. Maggie stood by the foot of the bed where Hal was sitting, making sure that he followed through on his promise. Once the nurse was done, she left the room while Maggie sat down beside her boyfriend.

"How are you feeling?" Maggie asked, placing her hand over his hand that didn't have the plastic tube in it.

"I'm okay, just worried about Ben." Hal told her, clasping her hand in his.

"Don't worry, Anne's with him. He'll be fine." Maggie assured him. Hal nodded, then looked up at her.

"Thank you, for not fighting that much about me coming along, even though you didn't want me too." Hal said, lowering his head to rest against hers.

"Your welcome. Just make sure you keep up your end of the deal. You're stuck on that IV for a week, and no break out attempts." Maggie replied with a smile. Hal groaned, annoyed by what the nurse told him, but nodded.

"Fine, as long as you come and keep me company every now and then. Otherwise I'd lose my mind out of boredom." Hal said.

"Trust me, I'll be around more than that." Maggie promised, her smile growing wider.

"Good." Hal responded, then moved closer and kissed her, which she returned without hesitation. They pulled away all too soon when they heard someone knock on the door. They both looked up to see Anthony standing in the doorway.

"Maggie, do you think you could give us a moment alone?" Hal asked, knowing he would have to the talk to the other soldier sooner or later. Maggie looked very reluctant at the idea of leaving him alone with the man who had sided with Pope against them, but ultimately nodded.

"Yeah sure. I heard that the cafeteria is serving lunch anyways. I'll bring you back something." Maggie told him as she stood up off the bed.

"Thanks." Hal said. She smiled and walked out of the room, leaving Hal alone with Anthony for the first time since he was rescued.

"Hey. How are you doing?" Anthony asked, looking over the young man. The last time he saw him, he was sick from the infection and completely out of it.

"I'm fine. You?" Hal wondered. He knew that Anthony was with the 2nd Mass members that had come to the military base first and was locked up with them when they protested the way they were treating his father and brother.

"I'm good." Anthony answered, then lowered his head, almost in shame. Hal instantly knew what Anthony was about to say.

"Hal, about what happened with Pope, I'm, I'm sorry. I'm really sorry." Anthony apologized. Though his head was lowered so Hal couldn't see him face, he could tell that the cop was trying not to cry by the sound of his voice.

"I know. It's okay." Hal replied softly. Anthony looked up at him in surprise. Whatever response he was expecting, it clearly wasn't that.

"You're not mad." Anthony questioned in shock.

"I was, but not anymore. It wasn't you who kidnapped me, wasn't you who beat me up, wasn't you who was going to kill me and my Dad. Honestly, if you weren't there with Pope, my Dad and I would probably be dead. If it wasn't for you, my Dad and family wouldn't have found me, wouldn't have gotten the jump on Pope. So, thank you for that." Hal explained.

"It's the least I could do. I only wish I did more. I could've helped you a lot sooner." Anthony replied.

"Yeah, you could've, but you helped when it counted. Let's just, leave it at that." Hal told him. Anthony was about to protest, knowing that his actions shouldn't be brushed off like that, but stopped when he saw that Ben had now joined them, giving him a very small glare that wasn't so scary since he looked so exhausted.

"I'll see you around." Anthony quickly excused himself so the two brothers could talk. Hal waited until the former cop was gone before turning his full attention onto his younger brother.

"How are you doing?" Hal asked worriedly. Even though Hal couldn't see any physical injury, he did see the paleness of his brother's skin, and still knew that he had been tortured.

"I'm okay. What about you?" Ben wondered, coming to sit down on the bed beside him to hide the fact that his legs were starting to shake under his weight. Maybe Anne was right about him getting some sleep.

"I'm doing good, feel much better. But Anne still wants me on the IV to make sure. Personally, I think she's being a little paranoid." Hal told him.

"Trust me, she's not. You have no idea what it was like, seeing you so sick." Ben replied with a serious tone.

"I'm sorry. It's not like I did it on purpose." Hal apologized, looking away from his brother to stare at the wall in front of him.

"I know." Ben said, also looking at the wall. For a moment, the two brothers just sat in silence, neither really knowing what to say, then Hal decided to say something.

"Are you sure you're doing okay?" Hal couldn't help but ask again. While he knew he couldn't have done anything, he felt beyond guilty that he wasn't there to protect his brother from whatever the soldiers had done to him.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be? I'm alive, so is Anne, and Dad, and Matt, and you. Spikes are healing me. I'm great." Ben answered, not even aware that the more he talked, the faster his breathing became as the realization of everything that just happened over the last two days started to fully fall on his chest. Hal placed his hand on his brother's shoulder to comfort him.

"Hey, it's okay." Hal told him. It was only then that Ben realized he was starting to hyperventilate. Forcing himself to steady his breathing, Ben felt himself start to calm down slightly, but not by much.

"Ben, what's bugging you? What happened?" Hal questioned, trying to be gentle when all he really wanted to do was demand the teenager to tell him everything that he had been through so he could make it right.

"When, they led us out, and put the bag on my head, I just. I thought it was over, you know. I had no idea that Weaver had gotten the soldiers on our side. It's ridiculous I know, but, I was terrified. I always thought that I wouldn't be afraid of dying, especially if you guys were going to be okay, but I was. They didn't shoot, but I'm still, I don't know." Ben revealed, surprising himself. He never expected to tell anyone that so soon, if at all. And he most definitely didn't expect to tell Hal.

Hal didn't say anything, just rubbed his brother's back to soothe him. He didn't really know what to say that would help him. Only thing that he knew he could do was make sure his brother knew that he was safe and it was over.

"You wanna know something?" Hal asked, finally figuring out what to say. Ben looked over at him curiously and Hal added, "But you can't tell Dad."

Looking more confused than curious, Ben nodded, wanting to know what his older brother was going to say. Hal looked over at the door to make sure it was closed, he didn't want anyone overhearing what he was about to say. When he saw that it was, he looked back at Ben.

"When Pope had me tied up in the cellar, there was one time where he came down. He started talking crap, I couldn't talk back because of the duct tape, but, it ended with him standing right in front of me and pointed his gun at my head. The end of the barrel was literally against my forehead. He pulled the trigger." Hal stopped there and lowered his head, the memory of what happened in the cellar threatening to overwhelm him. Taking deep breath, Hal looked up to see a shocked and horror filled expression on Ben's face.

"It wasn't loaded, but I didn't know that at the time. It was then I truly thought I was going to die, that I knew Pope wasn't making idle threats. And I was terrified." Hal confessed.

"Is that why you told Dad to leave you there?" Ben wondered once he found his voice. Whatever he imagined his brother going through while he was stuck with Pope, he never would've thought of that.

"Yeah. I figured, I was already done for, but I thought I could at least make sure Pope didn't kill Dad." Hal confirmed, nodding his head.

"Well, you didn't really think we'd leave you to die, did you?" Ben asked.

"No, but as weird as it sounds, I hoped you would. Though I didn't know you were all with Dad at the time, so I didn't know you guys had a plan. You didn't really think that we'd let you die either?" Hal repeated the same question.

"Honestly, while I was hoping you wouldn't, it was kind of hard to believe with being lined up, having a black bag placed over my head and a soldier counting down." Ben responded. Hal moved his hand that was still rubbing his brother's back to place on Ben's opposite shoulder and pulled him close, not even caring that he was putting pressure on the cut on his arm.

"I know, believe me, I know. But it's okay. You're safe now." Hal assured the blonde. Ben lowered his head to rest on Hal's shoulder as a few tears managed to slip out. He didn't even realize that he had been fighting them off the entire time they had been talking.

"Thanks for saving me." Ben whispered.

"Anytime geek. Thanks for saving me." Hal replied.

"Anytime jock." For a long moment, the two were silent yet again. Hal was pretty sure that his little brother was starting to fall asleep against him, which didn't surprise the older brother at all. After everything that happened, he had no doubt in his mind that Ben was exhausted, and it was finally catching up to him.

"Hal?" the black-haired man almost jumped when he heard his brother's voice. He had thought he was actually asleep.

"Yeah?" Hal said.

"I'm sorry, about what happened with Maggie. I'm really sorry. I never wanted to hurt you." Ben apologized, his voice quiet and shame filled.

"I know. It's okay, it's okay. I'm sorry too." Ben's only response to that was dig his head more into Hal's shoulder, which surprised Hal a little bit. He couldn't remember the last time Ben had sought comfort like this from him. It was long before the invasion happened, that was for sure.

After another minute, Hal heard his brother's breathing even out, letting him know that the teenager was now asleep. Being as careful and gentle as possible, Hal maneuvered his little brother as well as himself into a more comfortable position, ending with both of them lying down on their sides, Ben's back against his chest while his arms were wrapped around the blonde. Slowly starting to drift off himself, Hal opened his eyes when he felt someone grab his right hand.

Matt was sitting in the chair beside the bed, watching them with a concerned look in his eyes. Hal lifted his left hand, the hand that was wrapped around Ben and stretched it far enough to tousle Matt's short hair which caused the youngest brother to smile.

"We're okay buddy. Everything's okay." Hal told him. Matt nodded, but made no move to leave. Instead, he lowered his head onto the mattress and seemed to start to nodding off like the middle Mason already did. Hal again lifted his left hand and placed it over his younger brother's head. Soon enough, the oldest Mason son felt his own exhaustion start pulling him under too.

 **FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

The next day, Ben walked into the main room of the building they were in, looking for his Dad. After spending the rest of yesterday and last night asleep with his brothers, he had healed enough to get back out into the fight, but needed his Dad's okay with it first. He easily found his Dad with Anne, Weaver, Cochise and Dingaan surrounding a large crate that Cochise and Dingaan must've brought when they came back to the military base with the rest of the 2nd Mass that had remained in Fayetteville.

Coming closer to the group, Ben stopped when he felt his spikes suddenly tense, something capturing their attention. They wanted him to go closer. He knew that they were glowing even if he couldn't see them.

"Guys?" Ben called out to them. The five adults surrounding the wooden box looked up over at him.

"This thing, my spikes, it's, it's like it's calling me." Ben told them, walking closer to them.

"It is an Espheni communication device, it would make sense that Ben Mason's spikes are reacting to it." Cochise responded to the teenager's words.

"Maybe I can go in and see what Dingaan saw." Ben suggested, still walking slowly towards the crate that held the device.

"No, no, no, Ben, that's not safe." Anne immediately protested.

"No, not after what you've been through." His Dad was quick to side with the doctor.

"I might be able to translate what the Overlord's are saying." Ben told them.

"That thing gave Ding and me one h*ll of a headache, G*d knows what it'll do to you." Weaver replied.

"Dan's right, absolutely not." His Dad agreed with the Colonel.

"Dad how many times have I heard you say this could be the final showdown? Any information I could get, isn't it worth anything?" Ben questioned his father.

"It's not worth your life." The former President tried to convince him.

"I'll be careful." Ben promised, and shoved his hand into the center of the device before anyone had the chance to stop him.

Suddenly, he was seeing a planet, full of rocks and what looked like lava with smoke and ash and cinders filling the air. He suddenly zoomed in on a massive group of Overlords. They all got down on their knees, bowing down to something. Before he could see what it was, he was pulled out of the trance and was being pulled away from the device by his Dad and Weaver.

"Ben!" Anne called out his name. Weaver let go of him as Anne took his place, putting her hand on his forehead. Ben barely noticed though, all of his focus on was trying to understand what he just saw and heard, as well as trying to catch his breath.

"He's burning up. Dingaan, get him something to cool him down." Anne ordered the mechanic. Ben didn't even notice how hot he felt until Anne said he was.

"Ben, what did you see, what did you hear?" Ben heard his Dad ask.

"Overlords, a lot of them. They were, chanting, like some sort of ritual, to some higher being." Ben revealed, somewhat panting for air.

"Higher than an Overlord?" Anne questioned, and Ben nodded, easily recognizing the shocked expressions on his Dad's face as well as Anne's.

"Cochise, is there something you haven't told us?" Tom quickly put the attention onto the Volm who was standing a little ways away, watching them silently.

"I never thought it possible." Cochise told them, looking stunned himself. Ben looked over at his Dad and Anne, both staring worriedly at each other. Apparently, there was more to the Espheni than they all thought.

 **AN** – The End. If you guys are wondering why I suddenly ended it there, I did that because that's where episode 8 ends for the scenes with the 2nd Mass and thought if would bring the story to more of a close because after this, everything that happens in the show, would happen exactly the same as in the story. Except of course for Isabella, and there'd be a lot more Halgie, but other than that, everything would be exactly alike. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as well as enjoyed this entire story. Like I said before, there are at least two more Falling Skies stories that I want to write but I'm not sure when I'll start them and start uploading them. I am currently working on two others at the moment, looking for a job, and have a bit of an unpredictable schedule. I promise you though, they will get done and be upload as soon as possible. Bye for now!


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